Star Wars: Exceptional Jedi: Solving
by WindySilver
Summary: Late 80 BBY, right after Chance of lost causes. After their mission to Bimmisaari, Arya and Jedova need to solve the issues they had encountered about their beginning Padawan/Master relationship. This ranges from Arya making her own lightsaber to them forming a bond.
1. Chapter 1

_80 BBY, Coruscant, Core Worlds_

Arya was one of the last ones to leave the starship. "Finally! Master, let's go already!"  
"Arya, what have you been taught about rushing?" Jedova asked gently.  
"That I should not rush if I don't need to... But come on, I'm so excited! I actually got through my first mission as a Padawan!" Arya said. She could only barely keep herself from jumping up and down just like when she had been chosen as a Padawan.  
Jedova could not help smiling. "I can believe that, Padawan, but stay calm. The Temple is not going anywhere and we will get there even without rushing." He let his concern fade his smile away. "Do you think that you can walk all the way there after that Temenneree poisoning?"  
"I can, Master," Arya replied. It seemed like she would not have it any other way.

The Jedi duo had arrived at Coruscant after their mission on Bimmisaari. Jedova had to admit to himself that it had most likely been his roughest first mission with a Padawan. As far as he had theorized, the High Council gave beginning Master-Padawan teams easier and less dangerous missions than to more experienced teams. He understood why they had gotten such a tough mission, though; his choice to take Arya as his apprentice had been rather abrupt, perhaps even slightly impulsive. However, he did not know whether he regretted it or not yet.

Nevertheless, he did know was that a lot had to be solved before they would go on another mission. The start had been unusually rocky mainly due to the neglecting the necessary discussions. That was one of the reasons why he had decided that they would walk; that gave him some time to talk about some more pressing matters with the girl.  
"You know, I was surprised to hear that you still have a training lightsaber," he said. "I thought that you already had a fully functional saber."

Arya blushed in embarrassment. "Ah... Well, you see, Master, as I thought that I might not become a Padawan, I decided to wait and see. I mean, if I had gotten a proper lightsaber, especially if I made it myself, but hadn't gotten chosen, it would've been a waste."  
It sounded logical, Jedova admitted inwardly as he nodded. "Well, now that you are a Padawan, that has to be fixed. When were you planning to tell me about this?"  
"Well... I don't know. Maybe at this point or... when that just had become relevant. There didn't seem to be a good time to mention it before we left," Arya told. She could not help feeling self-conscious about the blush on her face. She had been scolded before but it seemed to her that Jedova was doing it without actually looking like he was scolding her.  
"I see," Jedova replied calmly. While it had definitely been a breach of protocol, he could not pin all the blame on the girl; he, the adult Master, had made the wrong assumption instead of making sure he was right like he should have.

There seemed to be some commotion up ahead so he chose to postpone discussing other matters.  
"What's going on here?" Jedova wondered aloud. The Force had not warned him about any threats as they had approached the area. As they got closer, they found out what was going on.  
"Another protest," Arya stated and looked at her Master. "They've been usually common recently, or so I've heard."  
The Coruscant Security Forces were present and calm, so Jedova said, "You're right about that, Padawan. Let's keep going; this seems to be under control."

They continued their walk without further discussion until they reached the Jedi Temple. A Fosh Padawan was on guard duty. Jedova would have merely nodded to them while passing by as he did not recognize them.  
However, a huge smile rose to Arya's face when she saw the Fosh. "Hi there, Airka!"  
"Hi there, Arya!" Airka replied and bowed to Jedova. "I see that you have caught a runaway Initiate, Master Wang."  
"Actually not. Arya is my Padawan," Jedova replied, surprised by the Padawan's attitude towards Arya.  
"Whaaat?" Airka gasped and turned to look at Arya. "So you were really chosen?" Arya fingered her Padawan braid as the answer. "That's so cool! You know, I always had faith in that."  
"Do I hear a senior Padawan lying?" Arya gave a laugh.  
"I had faith! A bit. Although no one knew what was going to happen. And what 'senior'? We're clan mates, the same age, don't you remember?" Airka's feathers turned from green to orange.  
Arya chuckled. "Yeah, we're the same age, but you've been a Padawan for longer than I have. You're more experienced."  
"Yeah, more experienced at guard duty," Airka noted. His feathers got a gray undertone. "I got back from one heck of a mission today and half an hour after that I was told to come here to stand for half of the rest of the day!"  
"That's a lot of half to you!" Arya smirked.  
"I know. And even the mission I was on was about half longer than it was thought to be."  
"You need to tell about that later."  
"There were more politicians captured by the bounty hunter than we had heard of. We stayed to help them all. The end," Airka compressed the mission. "Listen, as far as I've heard, Gomorrah along with some other Boma clan people are looking for you now that they have gotten back. You should start looking for them from your usual spot in..."  
"The Room of a Thousand Fountains. Yeah, gonna do that. Thanks," Arya said. "Well, later then."  
"Later. How was your mission? First one, wasn't it?"

There was a challenge in Airka's eyes. The Fosh was excellent at compressing missions to few sentences and he liked to challenge Arya – and anyone else – to do that.  
"Voting results had been tampered. We watched over the re-vote. I got poisoned with a drug invented by a Sith and 'treated' by a false medic. We figured the 'false' out and caught him. The end," Arya told.  
"That's good. Have you been practicing that or something?"  
"How did you guess that?"  
"It was obvious. You did not do that well two months ago."  
"Yeah. Your mission was supposed to be just a month, so I decided to practice when it became evident that you were taking more time."  
"Excuse me, but I think we should already go," Jedova interrupted.  
"Oh, yes. Sorry, Master," Arya apologized. "Let's chat more later, ok?"  
"Sure! See you at the dining hall at 1900," Airka said.  
"See you there," Arya said.

She and Jedova continued to proceed to the halls of the Temple.  
"So... You and Padawan Airka are friends?" Jedova asked, confused by the discussion he had just witnessed.  
"Yup, the wittiest that I have," Arya answered. "He really loves to compress missions to few sentences."  
"And he attracted you to do the same too?" Jedova asked.  
"If he hadn't, I wouldn't have even half of the wit I have now!" Arya grinned.  
"Now that would be a real loss," Jedova said light-heartedly and let out a dramatic sigh. "Sounds like you should look for your friends in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Shall we head there right now?"  
"If you are ok with that, Master," Arya answered.  
"Then that will be our destination," Jedova told.

Arya did not need her eyes to notice a Wookiee waiting at her spot. She could hear him growling. However, she did see that Gomorrah was not alone: Qui-Gon and Tahl had returned from their missions, it seemed. Arya kept herself from rushing to them, waiting for her friends to notice her instead.

It did not surprise her at all that Gomorrah, who was much taller than any of his age mates, noticed her first. His call for her startled some Jedi meditating nearby.  
"Hi everyone," Arya greeted them as she got to them. Jedova stayed a bit behind her, observing the situation with a small smile on his lips. The Force bubbled with questions that craved for answers.  
"Where have you been? You just suddenly disappeared! We thought that you had already left!" Tahl said.  
"I did say that it did not make sense," Qui-Gon noted.  
[Where were you?] Gomorrah asked.  
"I was on Bimmisaari," Arya said. "It was quite a mission!"  
"You haven't seen anything yet, Arya," Jedova noted, amused. Arya turned to grin at him.  
"Wait... You have become a Padawan? " Tahl asked.  
"Yup!" Arya answered.  
"Awesome!" Qui-Gon exclaimed.  
[I knew someone would choose you!] Gomorrah roared, startling nearby Jedi again, and took Arya into a strong hug.  
"Can't breathe..." Arya gasped.  
"Gomorrah, don't crush her just when she's become a Padawan!" Qui-Gon told, although his smile betrayed his amusement.  
Gomorrah let go of his friend. [Sorry.]  
"It's ok. No bones broke," Arya said. "And I was really excited about it, too."  
"So, what happened?" Qui-Gon asked.  
"You were on Bimmisaari a year ago, right?" Arya asked.  
"Yes, Master and I tried to track down a guy named Tokra. He was posing as a medic," Qui-Gon told. "He had his ways to hide from us, some strange stuff."  
"You can tell Master Dooku that Tokra has been caught now," Arya told. "He was behind first poisoning me with a drug, then he 'treated' me as we had no idea about him having something to do with it."  
"What? How are you on your feet then?" Tahl asked.  
"We found another medic. A real one," Jedova told. "Although, I have a feeling that it was all a close call."

He did not mention about the possibility of Arya having gotten permanent damage from the drug. The Jedi healers had to see if Arya had any damage.

[Well you got a rough mission! Did the Council think it would not be that dangerous?] Gomorrah said.  
"They were not actually expecting me to suddenly choose a Padawan just when they were about to send me on a mission," Jedova noted and snorted. "Only Master Tug knew about it some hours in advance, I think. Besides, this is not really anything when compared to what I've seen. Things can get scary with me."  
"By scary you mean 'deadly', don't you, Master?" Arya asked.  
[Arya!] Gomorrah gasped. The Veledosian snickered.  
"I'm quite sure no one has died near me because of scary things, so please don't use that word, Padawan," Jedova said. _Yet_, he added to himself behind his smile.  
"You know, it would really be nice to keep talking, but I need to go to my diplomacy lesson now so I won't be late. It was nice to see you all here. Bye!" Qui-Gon hurried towards the nearest exit.  
[He is constantly on the move. I mean, he returned just three days ago and he has been on lessons ever since,] Gomorrah remarked. [I don't know how he has the time to eat and meditate.]  
"Qui-Gon has been off Coruscant a lot lately. I think he's just trying to catch up with us," Tahl explained.  
"And what the heck am I going to do? I'm like over a year behind all of you since I haven't been allowed to join the Padawan classes." Arya made a face. "I still feel like an Initiate!"  
"I'm sure that after a couple of more missions you won't feel like that anymore." Jedova chuckled. "At least after the first near-death moment."  
[I am curious, Master Wang. How many times have you actually gotten to a near-death situation?] Gomorrah asked.  
"I lost the count after 160. I had just gotten the rank of a Jedi Master back then," Jedova told. The Padawans exchanged startled glances.  
"Arya, you better pray for your Ancients to guard you," Tahl noted.  
[Are you coming to the Form I lesson today, by the way? Clee said that we most likely have katas today,] Gomorrah asked.  
"When is it?" Arya asked.  
"In half an hour," Tahl told. "I'm coming too."

Arya twisted her mouth. She was not sure if she could make it.  
"If we go and give our report to the Council right away, you can make it," Jedova noted.  
"Then yes," Arya said.  
[Am I imagining it or is _everyone_ constantly on the go now?] Gomorrah asked.  
"Hey, I was stuck in one place for _months_! Moving around is nice after that," Arya noted. "But if I really am going to come in time for the lesson, we need to go now. See you later!"  
"See you. And don't be late!" Tahl noted.  
"I know Master Gla will get angry if I am late," Arya noted and shuddered. "I haven't forgotten what happened to Chirda when we were nine."

Jedova and Arya left, with Jedova nudging a bit to get Arya moving. The girl had a lot to talk about but no time for it.

He did remember what it had been like when he had been a Padawan, though. There was a lot to talk about and things stacked up but never enough time to catch up with friends enough.

Sometimes he felt like there still was not enough time even though the number of topics to talk about had been reduced along the years...

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	2. Chapter 2

"Is there anything you want us to add?" Jedova asked.  
"I don't think so," Reg Tug said and looked at his fellow Councilors  
"We are done. May the Force be with you," Oppo Rancisis dismissed the team.

Jedova and Arya bowed and left the chamber to the turbolift. Arya felt quite proud of herself for having been there, reporting to the High Council after her first mission. She wanted to say it aloud but Jedova was faster to speak up than her, "If you're quick, you will make it to the lesson in time, so go."  
"Yes, Master," Arya said. When the turbolift stopped and they stepped out of it, she bowed to her Master quickly and rushed away.  
"I hope she starts to feel like a real Padawan soon," Jedova muttered to himself once the girl had disappeared behind a corner.

Arya managed to make it to the lesson.  
"You came in the nick of time!" Tahl remarked.  
"Yeah," Arya gasped, trying to even her breathing.  
"Well, well, well... You still managed to come here in time, _Padawan_ Deinden," Master Gla remarked, looking at Arya's slightly messy Padawan braid. Jedova had not noticed it in passing due to his distance and height, but Arya had not done as good work as they both had thought she had.  
"Yes, Master Gla. I did make it," Arya answered, still a bit out of breath.  
"I hope you will make your own lightsaber to replace that training lightsaber soon," Master Gla remarked.  
"I will, Master Gla," Arya reassured.  
"You went on a mission with a _training_ lightsaber?!" Tahl gasped in disbelief.  
Master Gla flashed his sharp teeth – they had always made Arya feel uncomfortable yet the girl managed not to shudder when she saw them – in satisfaction with the reply he had gotten and went past them to give the instructions to the whole class, "Pick a partner and do katas 10 to 15."

Arya gritted her teeth. She had mastered katas one to five during her time, but struggled with the ones past that. She could only barely do katas between 10 and 12 at her own pace while anything past that was a complete mess. It was definitely the best way to make her feel like a crappy Padawan – now that she actually was a Padawan.  
"We should be a pair," Tahl noted. "Gomorrah is trying his luck with Clee."  
"Sounds good," Arya agreed, relaxing her jaws. Tahl was both good at the katas and also aware of how bad Arya was at them, so she could slow down in order to allow the Veledosian to keep up with her.

The Force flowed all around the Padawans as they picked their partners and got ready. Arya was happy to finally be a Padawan like the others even though she was badly behind them all. At least she was not a to-be washout who would leave soon anymore. She was actually _one of them_ like she was supposed to be, like she had always wanted to be.  
"Begin. Remember to do it precisely instead of fast," Master Gla's voice echoed in the room sooner than Arya had expected. Green and blue lightsaber blades came to life and moved through the air as their users progressed through the five katas.

Arya did her best to keep up with Tahl and to kata 11 she did quite well, but then she started to stumble. At first, she was just a couple of seconds behind her but suddenly "a couple" had multiplied repeatedly and Arya was ten seconds behind her. Tahl tried to slow down, but by kata 14 Arya was completely lost.  
"Go on," she formed with her lips. She did not dare to speak aloud as she desperately tried to follow her friend.

Arya was glad to notice that many were having trouble at this point, too, but she knew she would still be the last one to finish. Like she had always been. Others had gotten help, advice and private training from their Masters but Arya had only gotten herself into a bad state due to her poisoning so far. It did not really matter whether she had been chosen as a Padawan or not; her skill level had not changed. _Not yet_, Arya told herself, _but soon it would._

Her focus was lost for a second as she stumbled again. That was when the boy next to her – Arya did not remember his name – stumbled as well and had his lightsaber slip from his grip just enough to scorch the back of Arya's hand. The Veledosian girl cried out and jumped out of the reach of the green blade. It had been set on low power but, as she looked at her hand, Arya saw a bad-looking burn which had replaced the healthy skin she had stared at just a kata ago.  
"What is going on?" Master Gla approached them.  
"Uh, sorry, Initiate-" the boy started.  
"It's _Padawan_ now," Arya snapped, then let go of her pain and anger.  
"Sorry," the boy said again.

Arya did not reply. She saw Tahl finish kata 15 undisturbed by the incident right in front of her and tried to finish the last kata while ignoring her aching hand. She made it half-heartedly, just wanting it to end so that she could try to alleviate her pain until she would go to the Halls of Healing. Despite of taking some shortcuts, she was still the last one to finish the final kata.

Arya felt like she was always last on everything and it frustrated her more than anything even now that the continuation of her Jedi training had been assured. It would take some time to get over it – if she could ever do that, of course. She did not have to worry about impressing anyone anymore because there was no longer need for that, but from now on it would all be about not letting her Master down.

The lesson ended soon after she had been able to finish. Jedova was outside waiting for her.  
"How did it go?" he asked.  
"It went all right," she replied. Although it had not been as bad as some of her lessons, she did not want to tell her new Master what kind of a mess it had been. "I just need to get some bacta. My hand got scorched."  
"I can see that," Jedova noted, glancing at the burned back of the tense girl's hand. "Let's go. How did you get that burn, by the way?"

Arya nodded, so they started to walk towards the nearest turbolift.  
"It's no big deal. I stumbled while doing a kata and didn't notice the lightsaber of the person next to me slipping right towards my hand. That's it." Arya paused to come up with a quip. "And it is not even the shortened version Airka would make."  
"How would he shorten it?" Jedova asked out of curiosity.  
"He would say something like 'I stumbled and did not notice the lightsaber of the person next to me slipping', I think," Arya answered.  
"That's short," Jedova noted.  
"Well, Airka is short, too. If I didn't know better, I'd think he tries to shorten his talk to match his height," Arya remarked with a half-hearted smirk.

They stepped into the turbolift.  
"I do hope the check-up will show no damage from your poisoning," Jedova said quietly. He was not sure whether or not he should express his worry to the girl, but he still did so. It was probably for the best that he was open about it; whether he wanted it or not, he taught by the example he set when he was with his apprentice.  
"I hope so too, Master," Arya noted, immediately showing the Master that his example encouraged her to speak up about her own worry. "It wouldn't be fair if after all I've done to get this far I'd have to stop because of some permanent damage."  
"Permanent damage doesn't automatically mean that you have to stop," Jedova noted. "My Master, Xurego Odyrogo, proved it."  
"I've heard a good lot of him," Arya said and looked up to her Master's eyes. "He was great, wasn't he?"  
"Yes. Great indeed," Jedova said fondly. He treasured the time he had been in Arya's place, just having been chosen by Xurego. It had been great time, even with its downs.

They reached the Halls of Healing.  
"Hello there, Jedova. Have you gotten injuries to be tended again?" asked Amariel, a Cathar healer Jedova was well-acquainted with.  
"Actually not this time. My new Padawan needs a check-up. She got a poisoning on our mission. And she also got a burn at a lightsaber lesson just a moment ago," Jedova told.  
"You sent her to lesson after a poisoning?" Amariel asked in shock.  
"I'm fine, really. I could pull it off. It wasn't my fault I got my hand scorched," Arya defended herself.  
"So you're the Arya Deinden I've heard about. Someone did mention that you needed to be checked for any damage," Amariel said. "Ahem, aside from whatever injury you got after that..."  
"Still not my fault," Arya told stubbornly.  
"Of course," Amariel agreed, smiling. Arya's stubbornness reminded her about Jedi Initiates. Although, as far as she had heard, Arya had been chosen as a Padawan very recently, so it was understandable. "Jedova, I have a feeling that we can manage on our own. Do you think you need to pick her up from here?"  
"We did not have time to arrange her moving from clan quarters to Padawan quarters before we left to our mission, so yes," Jedova answered.  
"Oh right, I thought that I had forgotten something," Arya said and let out a nervous chuckle. "It's been a wild week."  
"Half an hour should be enough. Be back here then," Amariel said. "Now shoo before someone else thinks that you need to be tended to."  
"Very well. Don't worry, Arya, she won't bite you. At least she hasn't done that to me," Jedova said with a grin.  
"Just because I hate the taste of human blood," Amariel noted.  
"You're _both_ creeping me out," Arya muttered, eyeing the two adults with an uncomfortable frown. _Besides, _I _am not a human._  
"Sorry, Padawan," Jedova apologized warmly. "I'll see you in half an hour then."  
"He is pretty much like a mother hen, don't you think?" Amariel noted as soon as the door closed behind the leaving Jedi Master.  
"Uh..." Arya did not know how she should reply to that.  
"You know, he really worries a lot about his new Padawans and pretty much tries to do whatever he can to watch over them. I've noticed that during my time as a healer," Amariel noted. "Now come so that we can get you checked and your Master can stop worrying about it."

Arya did not say anything. She had to admit that while at times Jedova's protective attitude had been a bit annoying – she had learned to do things on her own without anyone helping or protecting her – at some points it had been nice. The thought that she had someone who watched over her willingly and cared about her made her feel happy. Suddenly, she realized that while she believed that the Ancients had always been watching over her and all the Veledosians, she now had someone who watched over _her_ in this physical realm, visibly by her side.

Jedova wandered through one of the meditation gardens, thinking of the path he had taken Arya to. He knew that the Veledosian girl deserved safer training than what he could ever provide with a plethora of misfortunes lurking right behind his shoulder, yet he had seen that he was the only one to be ready to provide any training to her.

The Jedi Master knew that from now on all he could do was making sure that his apprentice would not get killed while he trained her into Knighthood. He could not see the future – and in the end he was not even willing to see it – so he could know nothing for certain.

Now, the only certain thing was the decision he made in the current moment: the decision to be the best Master he could be.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	3. Chapter 3

_Half an hour later_

"I can guarantee you, Jedova, that your Padawan got through that Temenneree poisoning without any permanent damage," Amariel told.

Relief visibly took over Jedova. This was most certainly the best news he had heard in the whole month.  
"No need to thank me. Just please give her some of her own space, for the Force's sake," Amariel said before the man could speak up. "I mean, how can a girl so small even _breathe_ when there's a giant like you overprotecting her?"

Arya did not know whether she should be mortified just like her Master appeared to be or laugh at the unexpected and surreal situation. She had not said anything about how she felt about Jedova overprotecting her, but Amariel seemed the have reached her own conclusions from her lack of words.  
"I… I really am not sure what you're talking about," Jedova said steadily – actually too steadily and both adults knew it.  
Amariel just grinned at him. "Just make sure you two don't come here again soon!" Then she turned and walked away.

Jedova turned to look at Arya, his expression a mixture of mortification and confusion. The girl shrugged with the corners of her mouth twitching.  
"Why don't we talk after we've gotten your things to your new quarters?" Jedova suggested. Arya nodded, too afraid to open her mouth; she feared that she would burst into laughter if she spoke up.

They left the Halls of Healing for the quarters of the Boma clan.  
"Master, I really don't have that much to be carried so I could do it by myself, but I have very little idea of where your quarters are," Arya admitted. "Otherwise I could do this completely on my own."

Jedova noticed the attempt to impress him. Arya still wanted to prove herself even though she had done it already at the Exhibition Day. _The time of constantly doing it without success seems to have affected her a lot_, the Jedi Master mused, _and now she tries to cling to what she has already gotten at all costs._

"So, you are leaving now, huh?" asked the caretaker of Boma clan, Chama Fe.  
"Yup!" Arya replied. "You won't be worrying about me anymore!"  
"It is great to see you go on. For some time, I had been wondering if you were going to stay here forever!" Master Fe said with a smile.

Arya grinned, but there was a tiny bit of bitterness in her eyes that she had never noticed to show and thus had never hidden. Jedova wondered if anyone had ever actually noticed that secret bitterness in the grin.

_Or am I the only one who knows well enough how it feels like to be a lost cause in order to notice these signs in Arya?_

Arya rushed to gather her things. Master Fe spoke to Jedova quietly, "I can't express how glad I am to see that she has been chosen now. You can't even imagine how broken she was when the last one of her age mates here was chosen instead of her even though she has put more effort in her doing. It has been bothering her for long."  
"Yes, I believe I can't imagine it," Jedova admitted, "because I know exactly how it feels."

Master Fe did not say anything for a brief moment, taken aback by the admission. Then, as if nothing had happened, he started to talk about Arya's studies, her strengths and weaknesses and what was normal behavior for her. Jedova listened, noticing a good lot of faults that could be fixed with private training in which one could see what actually was wrong.

Arya was grateful that Jedova stayed to talk with Master Fe. She wanted to gather her things on her own. She went through all the places in her small quarters, not wanting to leave anything behind.

There was something under her mattress. Arya knew there was; she recalled putting something under there and swearing to herself to keep it a secret. The girl made sure that no one was watching, slipped her hand under the mattress and took the thing out from there. It was a leather scroll, fully closed. She frowned for a second, but then she remembered the odd figures on the day she had finished her Initiate Trials.

She had to keep this as a secret.

Once again, she hid the scroll between her undertunic and overtunic and acted like it did not even exist. She gathered the rest of her things and made sure everything looked like the day she had first stepped into this room. There was nothing left anymore, no traces of her to be purged away before the next Initiate to use these quarters would arrive.  
"Ok, Masters, I'm ready!" Arya called out and took all of her things to her arms. It was a wobbly pile she could keep from collapsing only with her chin pressing them.  
"Are you sure you manage to make it with that pile?" Jedova laughed. "Hey, why don't you let me help you, my Padawan?"  
"This is good. I can keep it from collapsing this way," Arya told, smiling. The sight of everything else in her head than her chin and jaw moving looked so hilarious that Master Fe could not help snorting in amusement.  
"She is stubborn, I warn you," he told Jedova.  
"I've noticed that already," the elder Jedi Master remarked with a smile, "but since I have dealt with stubborn Padawans before, I doubt there will be any problems."

Arya grinned.  
"We'll see about that," she said quietly, "Master."  
"Excuse me, Padawan!" Jedova chuckled. "Why don't we already go and stop bothering poor Master Fe?"  
"Sure. Bye, Master Chama. It has been nice seven years!" Arya said and bowed as much as she just could with her load.  
"I hope you will do well while under Jedova's tutelage," Master Fe replied. "Jedova, I am now relinquishing my responsibility on her to you. Be sure to take care of her or else..."  
"You don't need to worry about that," Jedova promised and bowed. "May the Force be with you."

Chama Fe watched as the door closed behind the fresh team.  
"And even the last one is a Padawan now," he muttered. "And it feels like they were just given under my care those years ago..."

Jedova had noticed an odd protrusion under Arya's tunic. He wanted to discuss whatever she was hiding – and almost everything else – with her in privacy where they would not need to mind anyone but each other.

Arya smirked at Airka as he met them in the corridor.  
"So you do all the carrying yourself, huh? You sure have a Master who makes you work a lot!" Airka remarked.  
"I do prefer doing my work myself, y'know," Arya noted. "You should try that sometime."  
"Ow! That burned!" Airka guffawed. "I hope you do have time to come and eat with the rest of us."  
"Don't worry about something as easy as that," Arya replied. "Just be sure that _you_ are there instead of sleeping all day!"

Laughing, Airka went in from one door to get to rest in his quarters.  
"Is it always like that between the two of you?" Jedova asked, unsure of how he should react to the discussion despite of the two Padawans' smiles.  
"Only when the topic isn't serious." Arya managed to turn her head enough to show her mischievous smirk to the much taller Jedi. Jedova shook his head, deciding that amusement was probably the best reaction for the quipping. It seemed to be consensual, after all.  
"Here," he said and opened the door. "At least I can open the door for you, right?"  
Arya chuckled. "You already did that, Master."

Jedova's smile widened; at least their senses of humor seemed to have some sort of a match even if their temperaments did not.

Arya walked to the door on the left. It had been left unlocked by Degu.  
"I assume you want to put your things to their places on your own in peace," Jedova noted.  
"That would be nice, Master," Arya said. The scroll felt uncomfortable between her tunics.  
Jedova nodded. "Just tell me if you find something Degu has forgotten there. And make sure you hide whatever you are hiding under your tunic well so that I won't find it." He turned his back on Arya and walked to the cupboard. He had started to miss tea on the mission. Coffee helped him to stay awake but he had never liked it – or at least after that one mission during his time as a Padawan he had not liked coffee. He was well aware of the fact that Arya had frozen to her spot but he did not say anything else.

After recovering from the shock, Arya slipped to her new quarters and shut the door, leaving the Jedi Master to prepare some tea. After a while, the Jedi Master had sat down at the table with an old but warm mug in his hands.

Jedova sipped his tea. He had now given Arya the warning the girl needed. He did not want to experience the same thing he had experienced with Degu on Jaminere five years ago. _By the Force, has it been that long already?_

Arya spread her things to her sleep couch and took deep breaths. She took the scroll from where she had hidden it. What was she going to do with it?

_Calm down_, she told herself. _Breathe._

Arya observed her new room. She had to find a place to hide it to.

_The small wardrobe?_ Too obvious.  
_Under or into the sleep couch?_ Obvious. Too obvious.  
_To the chest of drawers?_ Arya did not have enough things to hide it there.  
Behind _the chest of drawers?_

Arya tried to move the chest that had been put next to the wardrobe. There was enough space to hide the scroll behind it. However, there was already something. Arya reached out to get her hand to the small space. It felt like there was a couple of sheets of paper. Arya got a grip on them and lifted them from their hiding place. There was some writing and drawings on them. The girl could not help snickering at them. It seemed to her that someone had been severely bored at some point before putting the papers (who even used them these days, though?) away. She put the scroll behind the chest and pushed it to its original place. Then she opened the door and poked her head to see that Jedova was savoring his tea at the table. The Jedi Master lifted his eyes to look at his Padawan. Arya showed the papers, "Knight Odg or someone before him has forgotten something here."

Jedova smiled and lightly lifted his hand. Arya sensed the Jedi Master taking a Force grip on the papers and let go. The two papers floated in the air to the table. Arya disappeared back to her room to sort her things to their places.

Jedova looked at the papers. At first, it seemed that there were just two papers, but then he noticed that two papers were stuck together. He took them apart as carefully as he could and looked at what was on those three sheets.

He remembered that back when Degu had been his Padawan for just two years, there had been a mission on which the boy had had far more energy than was necessary. Therefore, when they both had been placed into quarantine, Degu had grown bored unusually fast, so he had been given some papers and a pen to pass time. Jedova had never seen those papers after they had been let out; Degu had never wanted to show them to him.

The sheet of paper which had been apart already was full of drawings. Jedova saw some stick figures with what seemed like lightsabers, but could not make out anything else among the numerous lines. On the other side of it was something that looked like a giant beast. Jedova shook his head, amused. He thought that understood why Degu had hidden them now.

He moved on to the other papers. On the sides that had been left to show was some writing about how bored he was. The word "boring" was repeated numerous times and with many different styles. Jedova was actually a bit surprised that in the middle of either paper did not have a huge version of that word. He turned the other paper. There were some words about what he had heard while looking for criminals – that odd hobby of his which had ultimately caused them to meet at night on a street on Coruscant in the first place – like the very little he knew about his now late father, Ianor Odg. On the other side, however, was something else.

He recalled a friend of Degu's – his name was extremely difficult to pronounce and Jedova doubted he had ever gotten it right – had inspired the boy to take up some poetry lessons some time before that mission. The teacher had later told Jedova how bad Degu was at it, especially at rhyming, and now the Jedi Master finally could see proof – and he could only agree with the poor teacher. Nevertheless, he started to read the text and pay attention to its meaning.

_Hey, you know this face?  
No. Never seen him.  
Doesn't the name tell you anything?  
No. Go away, punk._

_I am looking for someone.  
I don't know what he is now,  
I don't know if he sees me._

_Hear me out!_

_I want to see him,  
Just one moment to talk with him.  
Hey, why did you do that? Why are you here?  
Too many questions and he pushes me away, again.  
I can't choose the right questions.  
I don't know which ones I need to know now._

_It is this way, I can't see why.  
I can't tell anyone.  
There's someone who'd listen, I know,  
But I can't burden him either.  
I carry this alone,  
I carry the uncertainty forever._

Nothing rhymed and the piece needed a lot of polishing to properly work on its own, Jedova acknowledged that. However, there was a deeper meaning in those words. While reading, he had realized while reading that Degu had written about his relationship to his father and his Master. He had wanted to get it out of his system but he had chosen not tell Jedova about it.

Only now Jedova truly understood why the papers had been stuck together and why Degu had refused to show them, opting to hide them altogether instead. It would be awkward, but he knew that he had to return the papers to Degu. They were a part of the younger man's past, after all.

The door of Arya's room opened up and awoke Jedova from his thoughts.  
"It's nearly 1900 now, so I'll leave to the dining hall, Master," she told.  
"Of course. Please remember that I want to talk with you after that, though," Jedova reminded. Suddenly Arya looked uneasy. "What?"  
"Well, it's just that since some other Boma clan people will probably join Airka and me, our conversation may take real long. And I mean it's like over two hours then, so I may be back at something like near 2200 at the earliest," Arya explained.

Jedova's eyes lighted in understanding. Of course the young people had a lot to talk about. "If that's the case, then we shall postpone it for tomorrow. We'll just get up earlier."  
"Okay," Arya said. _It couldn't be too early, could it?_  
"By early I mean 0600," Jedova noted.

Arya tried to control her expression but her face did fall a bit flat in dismay.  
"I understand, Master," she said as evenly as she just could, bowed and exited. The door closed behind her.  
"Alright, Jedova, I think you have startled her enough for one day," Jedova said himself quietly and took a sip of his cooling tea. "Maybe try not to be so authoritative tomorrow."

Arya stood near the dining hall, waiting for Airka to arrive. Then she saw the Fosh.  
"You're early. Did you run away from your Master before he could stop you from coming?" Airka said.  
"My Master was too busy sipping his tea to do that," Arya replied. Airka grinned and started to walk past the girl. They entered the rather noisy hall side by side.  
"Hey, look, there's Chirda. And also Satasha," Airka noted.  
"Satasha?" Arya did not recall anyone by that name.  
"She's two years older than us, but we were on a same mission a few months ago," Airka told. "I'll introduce you to her. She's great, I tell you!"  
"That'd be nice!" Arya noted.  
"But let's get the food first," Airka stated.  
"Which one do you use more to think, your brain or your stomach?" Arya laughed.  
"I'm trying to balance it," Airka told. Arya giggled.  
"Good luck with that, then," she muttered.

A moment later, they got to the table.  
"Hi Chirda, hi Satasha! Do you mind if we sit here?" Airka asked.  
"Not at all, Airka. There's always space for the hungry Padawans." Satasha grinned.  
"I see why you like her," Arya noted to Airka.  
"Satasha, this is Arya Deinden, a clan mate of ours. Arya, Satasha Trujl," Airka introduced.  
"Nice to meet you. Have you been a Padawan for long?" Satasha asked.  
"Nah, I was chosen not even a week ago," Arya told.  
"You were chosen?! By who?" A bit of Chirda's salad fell back to her plate.  
"Jedova Wang," Arya answered, surprised by the amount of pride she felt when she spoke her Master's name.  
"The Unlucky Jedi?" Chirda asked.  
"The one and only." Excitement kept rising within Arya; she was actually like the other people at the table instead of just an Initiate now and it felt unbelievably good.  
"I've heard something about him. He seems to be always in trouble. What is he like, Arya?" Satasha asked.  
"He's really nice. And yes, trouble follows him everywhere," Arya told.  
"You haven't been on a mission yet, have you?" Chirda asked.  
"She returned today from one. I saw." Airka told and chewed some meat.  
"True. We were sent just a few hours after Master Wang had chosen me," Arya told.  
"What was it like? It's quite scary to go on the very first mission, right?" Chirda asked.  
"Hmmm... To be honest, I've been stuck here in the Temple for so long that aside from getting poisoned, I liked the mission. It was a nice change of pace," Arya noted. She took advantage of the shock around the table to eat her own food.  
"You were poisoned?" Satasha asked.  
"Yep. But I'm fine now." Arya smiled.  
"Wow! I hope I won't end up the same way anytime soon!" Chirda noted.  
"I doubt you will," Airka noted. "I've heard that Ithorians bite those who try to do that."

Others tried to avoid laughing, but Chirda frowned.  
"Be careful with your quips or I'll bite _you_," she told. Airka opened up his mouth but Chirda continued before he got to speak up, "And before you say anything about threatening, I'll tell you that I am warning you. Those things you've heard may very well be right."  
Airka closed his mouth.  
"That was a good one," Satasha giggled. "You outwitted him."

Chirda smiled in joy. She had dreamed of this for long. Finally, she had said something that silenced the always-so-witty Fosh.  
"Better luck next time, pal," Arya said and patted Airka's shoulder, chuckling.  
"You won, Chirda. How was your mission in Ithori system, by the way?" Airka said.  
"It was ok. Actually quite peaceful," Chirda told.  
"Hi everyone!" came a shout just behind Arya and Airka. The two Padawans jumped and turned to look at the shouter. It was Peter, a hyperactive human boy who was among the younger of Boma clan's Padawans. "What's up?"  
"Just a normal conversation," Chirda told.  
"Satasha, this is Peter. Peter, this is Satasha. Now sit," Airka told.

Peter sat on the free chair on Arya's left side so fast that some of the food flew around.  
"Chill out, dude!" Arya said. "The food is not going to disappear from your plate!"  
"You sure? You could steal it!" Peter said and moved between his plate and the Veledosian protectively.  
"I prefer my own food," Arya replied and put a good chunk of the meat to her mouth. Peter started to wolf down his own dinner without joining the conversation, then left as soon as he had finished.  
"We seriously have no idea where he gets all his energy," Chirda noted to Satasha once the boy was out of the dining hall.  
"Or who chose him as a Padawan. He's never stopped for long enough to tell us," Airka remarked.

Satasha nodded, understanding. "It was nice to see you all and talk with you, but now I need to go. My Master is waiting for me. I'll see you when we happen to meet again. May the Force be with you all." She left, followed by each of the Padawans wishing the Force to be with her. _She must have noticed Gomorrah heading this way_, Arya mused as the Wookiee along with Qui-Gon, Tahl, Clee Rhara and some others joined them there. Suddenly, the conversation turned massive but Arya did not mind it. It could be possible that they would never have such a chance to talk together with the whole group again.

_At 2357_

Arya slouched to her quarters. It seemed to her that Jedova had already gone to sleep. The conversation at the dining hall had taken _way too long_, but they all had had fun. Besides, Arya had to admit that for the first time ever since the time others had started to get chosen, she truly felt like she was once again one of them.  
"I was starting to wonder if you'd lost your way," Jedova's voice startled her as it came from the corner of the common room nearest to her door.  
"Master? You're still awake?" Arya asked.  
"I was waiting for you to make sure you'd make it back. Did you underestimate the length of the conversation?"  
"Yes. More people than I had expected came and we couldn't stop talking. The end."  
"You must have listened to Airka a lot this evening." Jedova stood up. "Go to sleep now."  
"On my way already, Master," Arya yawned. "Good night."  
"Good night," Jedova's low voice was like whisper in the dark room. Arya was not actually sure if he was actually one of the shadows of the room as the Jedi Master crossed the common room to go to his own room. Too tired to think, Arya just yawned and went to her own room to slump on her sleep couch and fall asleep.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	4. Chapter 4

_In the next morning at 0600_

Jedova stretched a bit. He admitted to himself that it had been a bad idea to stay up so late while waiting for Arya. For once, he was grateful that he was quite used to not getting enough sleep occasionally and thus could let the drowsiness fade away as he invited the Force in. He knew that he had to wake Arya up himself, though; the girl could not possibly have gotten up yet. When he was certain that he was fully awake, he walked to the common room and through it to Arya's door. He knocked lightly. "Arya, it's time to get up now."

Just like Jedova had expected, there was no answer. Arya's Force signature echoed with deep sleep. Jedova sighed and opened the door. It was a pity to disturb such peaceful sleep but they had agreed to get up at this hour. He walked to the sleep couch and knelt to the floor by Arya's side. The Padawan's back was facing him but he could hear her slow breathing. Jedova took a deep breath, gripped Arya's shoulder and started to shake the girl carefully. "Arya, wake up." He had done this with Degu countless of times, even at hours that are normal for getting up, so it was easy for him to keep his voice calm. Despite of that, he hoped that he would not have to do this with Arya often.

The girl groaned.  
"Just five minutes," she muttered, trying to shake Jedova's hand off.  
"It is time to get up already, Arya," Jedova said.  
"C'mon, Master Chama... It's too early," Arya muttered. The corners of Jedova's mouth twitched; Padawans could say almost anything when one tried to wake them up but being mistaken to clan caretaker was new to him – even though Degu had called him Master Yoda once.  
"Have you forgotten that you have been chosen as a Padawan?" Jedova asked as he leaned closer to Arya's ear. "We have a lot to do today, so we have to start early."  
"Oh shut up," Arya moaned, took her pillow from under her head and put it on her ear.  
"Now that was very rude of you, my Padawan," Jedova said and took a grip on the pillow and lifted it up. Arya could not hold onto it for long, so the Veledosian's hand fell down soon afterwards.  
"I'll have you know, young one, that you're not the first Padawan I have woken up by different means. I've actually become an expert at it, so would you _please_ just get up now so that I won't have to resort to any... _drastic_ means?" Jedova asked. He did not want to be too demanding as the very first thing in the morning, but he was already growing tired of trying gentle but ineffective methods of waking the girl up.  
"Go away," Arya muttered.  
Jedova sighed. "If that's the way you want this to go, fine. Since this is the first time, I'll go easy on you... At first."

Jedova put the pillow next to him and lifted his hand. Then, he started to tap Arya's shoulder with his fingertips at a fast pace; Degu had never liked it and thus it had been a quite effective and easy way to make him wake up. Arya tried to turn and swat the hand away, but whenever the girl was close enough to hit, she either did not put the required strength to it to make anything else than a barely audible smack or Jedova just moved his hand a bit to avoid the hit.  
"Oh, seriously!" Arya yelled and fully turned. She used her arm to swat Jedova's hand away, but in the process she fell off the couch, only to be caught by the man.

The Jedi Master kept her an arm's length away from collapsing on him. Thanks to the girl's lightness, it was easy to do.  
"Now you're awake," Jedova said, smiling. "Get dressed so that we can begin."  
"Yes, Master," Arya said, blinking in surprise. She could not recall what had happened while she had been half-asleep, but she knew that now that she had woken up fully, she was in an odd position, looking down on her kneeling Master whose hands were the only thing that kept her from falling down on him.

Jedova stood up and lifted Arya to her feet, amused by her bafflement. Then he left the room, leaving Arya to wonder what had just happened. The girl shrugged and walked to her wardrobe to get clean tunics; she had forgotten to switch her previous tunics to her sleeping clothing last night.

After Arya had changed her clothes, she found her Master from the common room, meditating on the floor. Arya went next to him and knelt to join the meditation. She let her topmost feelings fade into the Force, as usual. It was easy to calm down when there was not that much to feel yet. She sensed Jedova end his meditation and opened up her eyes to look at him. Once they had established eye contact, they turned to face each other.  
"What do you think there is left to do before we are ready to go on another mission?" Jedova asked.  
"Well... I need to build my own lightsaber, at least..." Arya begun.  
"Is there something that we are missing as a team?" Jedova prompted.  
"A bond," Arya said.  
"It will form and define itself over time as we work together, but we can set its foundation on our own initiative, which is why I brought it up," Jedova told. "There is a lot of things we need to talk about as well. I happened to talk with Master Gla yesterday. He told about how your studies at Form I are going. And he also told about how the lesson actually went on your part."

Arya did not say anything. She swore in her mind. _Why did that cekaa go tell him?!_

Jedova lifted his eyebrow and sent a small reprimand through the Force. It was enough to make Arya aware of that she had not shielded her thoughts well. The girl's posture did not change but her face turned red. She did not know whether she should say "Oops" aloud or not.  
"He said that given how bad you are at katas overall, you did quite well yesterday," Jedova told. Arya blinked. She had not expected to hear this; the strict lightsaber instructor hardly gave anyone any compliments ever. Even when things went well, Dius Gla _always_ found something to nitpick about. Actually, the only one who had ever gotten compliments from Master Gla and whom Arya had heard about was someone from years ago.  
"He also mentioned that your braid was messy when you came to his lesson and that I should make sure that it will change," Jedova added.

Arya could not take this anymore. She slammed her face to her palms; she had absolutely no idea about whether she should laugh at the irony of the situation or just cry in humiliation. Jedova reached out to take a hold of Arya's right shoulder and pressed it firmly, hoping that it would help her calm down.

Upon feeling the hand on her shoulder, Arya started to take deep breaths and try to pull herself back together. The Master's hold was reassuring but she found raising her head up and looking back into his eyes difficult. Jedova was patient, though. He knew that there was no need to rush the Padawan. He had made sure that they had time.

Arya took as deep a breath as she could and made herself lift her gaze. Somehow, once she got that far, it felt easy to look into those dark brown eyes. There was understanding in them.  
"It's perfectly all right, my Padawan. These things need time. Time that we did not have before," Jedova said, his voice calm. "Now, however, we have more than enough time for them all and we will use that time for them now, right?"

Arya nodded. She knew that she had now been fully dropped back down to earth – and the drop had been a hard one.

Jedova moved his hand to take a hold of Arya's Padawan braid. Now that he looked at it more closely, it truly was quite messy. Arya seemed to feel a bit uncomfortable about such closeness. Jedova understood that perfectly, though; he was intruding the girl's personal space. It was not like he would have enjoyed the position, had he been in Arya's place, either.  
"You know, we could get two birds with one stone here. Maybe even three," Jedova said. "Along with re-braiding, we could form the foundation for our bond and talk about whatever we need to talk about. What do you think about that?"  
"Is multitasking a good idea on an important thing as this one, Master?" Arya asked, worried. "I am not really sure about it."  
"There is no need to worry about that," Jedova assured. "I know what I'm doing."  
"Then it's ok," Arya said quietly, more intimidated than anything else by the whole situation.

Jedova moved to Arya's side. There he did not have to bend so much in order to reach Arya's braid. The girl tried to start to unbraid, but Jedova stopped her hand midair.  
"Let me do it so that I can see what's wrong about it," he said softly.  
Arya eyed the man, clueless about what she should think about it all. "Uh... Ok, Master." She tried not to withdraw, although it was difficult when she felt so small next to her Master. She felt completely out of place in the room she had not gotten familiar with yet.

With a surprising amount of care, Jedova started to unbraid the hair. What Dius Gla had most likely noticed was the number of locks which had gotten out of the braid before and during the mission. Placing the few marker beads to the floor once the braid had been completely undone, he paid attention to the spots from which Arya had gathered her hair for the braid. With male Padawans, they were chosen very carefully from the beginning as the rest of their hair was cut short, but with girls it was freer as long as they made sure that their hair did not end up in front of their eyes.

Jedova noticed that Arya had picked her hair from spots that, together, would make braiding difficult. Upon that realization, he understood one of the reasons why the Master was usually the one who first braided their Padawan's braid. He let go of two of the small bunches of hair and tried to get the hair from better spots all the while avoiding pulling the girl's hair.

When she felt his fingers brush her scalp instead of the light tugs in the roots of her hair, Arya felt like she had to jerk her head away from the touch. While she managed to fight against that instinct, her breathing rhythm changed nevertheless.  
"Taking your hair from spots that are close to each other makes braiding much easier," Jedova told. "Don't twitch, Padawan."  
"I'm trying," Arya said, still uncomfortable even though the Master's serenity reassured her. "It just feels so weird to feel someone finger my scalp."  
"Just take it easy. I'm afraid that there will be a day when you will feel something much, much worse than this. I do hope that you never will, but the chance is always there, no matter where you go and who you become during your life," Jedova said as he drew locks into two different bunches alongside the third one which he had spared from the previous braid.  
Arya relaxed her shoulders, still fighting against the instinct to withdraw. "I know that, Master. You have encountered that, haven't you?"  
"I have indeed. And I'm afraid that in the upcoming years I will drag you into such situations with myself even though I don't want to put you in danger." Jedova got the final locks sorted. "There. What do you say if we begin bonding?"  
"Sure, Master," Arya said. She admitted to herself that she had very little idea about what she was supposed to do now, but she did not want to try to admit it to her Master.

Luckily, she did not need to say it aloud as Jedova sensed her uncertainty.  
"There's no need to worry. Just be open and let me form the connection through the Force," the Jedi Master said.  
"Alright." Arya breathed in calmly, closing her eyes, and fully opened up herself to the Force. Jedova could not help but be slightly frightened by the girl's blind-looking obedience; it felt like he could ask the girl to do anything and she would do it, possibly without thinking much about it. However, he was certain that Arya had not questioned him because she trusted him to know what he was doing and that he would not do anything that he was not allowed to do. It was not the Jedi way to abuse nor take advantage of anyone, much less one's own apprentice, after all.

Closing his eyes, Jedova connected himself to the flow of the Living Force. It was easy to find Arya's nervous presence there and start to form a connection. He got a good start for a small thread, but then it snapped when Arya suddenly broke away with a shudder. Jedova opened his eyes and saw that Arya had crossed her arms and tensed her shoulders.  
"What is it, Arya?" Jedova asked. Arya did not know what to say, or at least how to explain, so she just shrugged, not looking at her Master.  
Jedova understood what was wrong. He made sure that his voice was so soft that it did not sound like he was accusing the girl at all. "You feel insecure about letting me in, right? You're afraid of my reaction to seeing all the negative feelings that you have inside."

Arya turned to look at him, insecurity now clearly visible on her face, not just her eyes. She nodded, trying not to let her confusion about how the Master could put her feelings into words so accurately show.  
"You have been hiding them for long because you can't let go of them," Jedova said. Arya nodded again, her eyes now locked with her Master's own, so Jedova continued, "Arya, listen, there is no need for you to be ashamed of your feelings. We cannot affect the way we feel, only how we react to those feelings and what we do with them. I know how you feel, I really do. I have been through the same as you. I won't despise you for what you feel."  
"You promise you won't?" Arya could not help feeling a pang of shame when she heard how weak and shaky her voice was.  
"Yes, I promise. If you can't work out your feelings nor let them go, you can always talk about them with me. I can and will help you if you need me to."

For a moment, Arya did not say anything. She just stared into Jedova's eyes, as if looking for deception in them. Then she relaxed and let her hands drop back to her knees.  
"Will you let me continue?" Jedova asked.  
"Go on, Master." There was a huge difference in Arya's voice now; it was as if she had been relieved of a huge burden. She most likely had been; Jedova knew from personal experience that the feelings Arya harbored inside were a heavy burden to carry alone, especially for such a young person.

He connected to the Living Force again and sought to reform the connection to Arya he had managed to make. This time, Arya met him there, wary of her movements. For a few moments, they just sat there, twining small threads of the Force between them into a bond.

The Force was peaceful around them as the bond turned secure. There was no interruption in its flow. Arya did not share any feelings nor anything else with Jedova but she welcomed his presence, carefully observing it and learning what it showed of him: serenity, understanding and wisdom earned through decades of service.

With a relieved breath, Jedova let go. The bond was tiny and could barely let anything go through it, but he saw how big of a difference it made to Arya. Now, the girl smiled, most of her insecurity faded away. She seemed more certain of her place now, of where she belonged. The bond carried out a sentiment, the first one Jedova had learned to broadcast when he had become Xurego Odyrogo's Padawan: _Thank you.  
You're welcome, my Padawan._ Jedova knew that Arya could not receive it as words, but it came as a feeling she recognized. The way the girl relaxed further told the man that the sentiment had gone through.

Jedova had never realized how big a difference of such a small and weak-looking bond made to everything. Yet now, as he had been on a mission with Arya without the bond existing between them, it was clear as day that there was a vast difference not just in how they both felt about each other but also in their body language; they were now definitely more comfortable with one another than just a moment ago. The feeling of belonging side by side that most teams took for granted was not as granted as Jedova had thought.

It was, in a way, bewildering how even after three different Padawans there was something more another one could teach a Master. Jedova looked at the girl for a while, wondering what she would teach him during the next ten years. The way they had connected over feelings, the experience of being almost a washout, suggested that Arya would teach him more about emotions.

That would be more than fine. With a smile, the Jedi Master turned his focus to braiding, paying attention to making the braid neat without pulling his apprentice's hair. At first, they sat there in a friendly silence, just enjoying each other's company and their new connection, but then Jedova started to tell some tips on making a good braid; Arya would have to learn to maintain her Padawan braid, after all. At some point, their conversation sidetracked to different things, none of which were what they were supposed to talk about. Nevertheless, Jedova did nothing to bring it back to its track; Arya was happy to tell about the things that had happened to her during her time as an Initiate and he enjoyed listening to the stories.

Jedova put the final marker bead to its place. "And now it's ready. No one should have anything to complain about it."  
"Thank you, Master!" Arya's voice was much lighter now compared to when they had begun.  
"You're welcome." Jedova let go of the braid. "All right, now that that's done, there is something I want to remind you about: Padawans are not supposed to hide things from their Masters. I've had my fair share of dealing with issues with that and I would be more than glad to avoid such situations with you. Did I make myself clear?"  
"Yes, you did, Master."  
"Now, what was so secret that you needed to hide it when you moved it with you?"  
Arya looked down. Her fingers fidgeted. What could she say?  
"Arya, please." Jedova's voice was not demanding and with the bond they had formed he did not intimidate Arya like he would have before.  
"It's just... I don't know," Arya said. "I've... never really thought about that..."  
"Why don't you show it to me and tell how you got it?" Jedova suggested.

Arya swallowed. She considered her possibilities and decided that it would be for the best to just do what her Master had suggested, so she got up and went to fetch the scroll. Maybe Jedova could tell something about it.

Once she had come back, she sat back down and gave the scroll to Jedova, trying to fight against her mind screaming against it after the long time of suppressing everything she knew of the item. The Jedi Master examined it, but he had no idea what it actually was. It was made of leather, there seemed to be some sort of illustration on it and there was something hard inside it. However, it was fully closed and he could not find any part from which the scroll could be unwrapped. Concluding that examination would lead him nowhere, he put the scroll on the floor and asked, "How did you get this thing?"  
"It was the day when I passed the last Initiate trial. I had been sent out to help at a dispute near the senate building and I was on my way back to the Temple when I heard some sort of an odd whisper," Arya started.  
"What did say?" Jedova asked.  
"I don't remember," Arya told. "I recall that it sounded like hissing and that it was the same word all the time. It felt like it was calling _me_. I just couldn't continue towards the Temple. I had to follow my instincts to the source of that whisper, so I did."  
"Where did it lead you?"  
"To a low level. A very low one. I think it was 500-something."  
"Was the scroll just there?"  
"No, there was a small fire and two humanoid-looking, very wrinkly forms there. They mostly repeated the same word, but when they presented the scroll to me, they told me to take it."  
"What happened to them after you took the scroll?"  
"They just turned into dust and the fire went out. I rushed back to the turbolift and returned to the Temple. I kinda forgot about it after I hid it, but I always knew it was there and that I should never tell anyone about it. That's it."  
Jedova smiled. "It's good that you did not compress that story."  
"You would've required the full version anyways." Arya's mirth was unmistakable.  
"That's true. You're catching on quickly," Jedova noted. "Have you ever thought about what you would do with this scroll?"  
"Well... Not really. I guess I've been thinking that I'd find out what it was later or something. I don't know." Arya shrugged.  
"Maybe someone else, like a droid at the Archives, could tell at least something. We could try that out. Or have you tried that already?"  
"No. I just hid it in my quarters and swore not to tell about it to anyone."  
"Let's think about that later. Have you thought about your lightsaber?"  
"A bit. That's next on the list for today, am I correct?"  
"Yes. You should talk with artisan Zakfe about that. I mean in the afternoon." Jedova gave a laugh. "I don't think it's a good idea to go and talk with her right in the morning."  
Arya grinned. "Me neither."

_Shi-sha..._

Arya startled. It was that voice from the day she had found the scroll!  
"What's wrong, Padawan?" Jedova asked.

_Shii-shaa..._

"It's that voice..." Arya looked down on the scroll. She noticed the spot where the pattern painted on the leather changed abruptly. Could it be the opening point?

Arya took the scroll to her hands and tried to find and edge there. There had to be something. Jedova watched her in silence. He believed that the girl had realized something, even if it was not a conscious realization.

Arya felt the edge of the leather but she could not grip it. It was too tightly attached to the leather underneath.  
"I can't get it open," she sighed. "It's impossible to get a grip."  
"Perhaps you should try using the Force?" Jedova suggested.  
Arya's eyes lighted. "You're right, Master!" She concentrated on the edge she had found and pushed a small part of the Force's current under the leather. The scroll started to unfold. Now Arya could get a grip on the edge and unfold it the rest of the way. Jedova watched with great interest. He, too, wanted to know what was inside this mysterious scroll.

What they first saw were metal and three gray crystals. Then Jedova started to identify the metal as parts of a lightsaber. "You know what, Arya?"  
"Well?"  
"I think we have a dismantled lightsaber."  
"You think so, Master?" Arya was surprised to hear this.  
"These are lightsaber parts, there's no doubt about it. Therefore, these are more than likely kyber crystals or other crystals that can be used in a lightsaber," Jedova said. "The big question is: whose lightsaber was this?"

Arya stared at the parts, mystified. Then she started to pick them and arrange them to form one side of the lightsaber, unable to shake the feeling that there was something familiar about these parts. She managed to get something together to a weak formation, one that was enough for her to identify the lightsaber; she had seen it in the vision from the Ascherlee bush.  
"Master, I have a feeling I know who was the owner of this lightsaber," she told.  
"Who?" Jedova asked, surprised.  
"A VeledosJedi named Findio Acheta, an apprentice of a VeledosJedi called Daa-Rei. I saw them in the vision the Ascherlee bush on Bimmisaari gave me," Arya told.  
"Findio Acheta and Daa-Rei?" Jedova repeated. "I'm not sure if I've heard those names before that vision... If I have, it was on Master Kuro's history lesson about _The Poisoning of Veledos_."  
"The Archives should have some information about them," Arya said and moved the parts away off the leather. There were some weathered letters and a meaning almost faded away. "'Wiacha Shi-Sha heshat…' '_In Shi-Sha we trust._' Interesting... Daa-Rei called Findio 'Shi-Sha'."  
"'Shi-Sha'?" Jedova frowned. "That says nothing to me."  
"The Archives may have something about that, too."  
"You don't know? I mean, it is a Veledosian thing, isn't it?"  
"I guess it is. But I don't know what a Shi-Sha is. Something – no, _someone_ – important, but that's just a vague feeling I'm getting, that's all. A lot of information was lost after our planet was poisoned. Not all could have possibly survived verbally to these days."  
"Well then, why don't we go to the Archives right away to find out more? Maybe some analyzer droid could help analyzing these patterns."  
"Most of them are just what they are: patterns, decoration. The only writing here is that one line. We only need information on this VeledosJedi duo."  
"Go and put these parts away then so that we can go then, Padawan."  
"Yes, Master."

Arya gathered the parts back to the scroll and wrapped it quickly. As Jedova stood up, Arya went to put the parts to one of the drawers. Then her stomach growled.  
"Uh... Master, do you mind if we eat breakfast first?" she called out from her door.  
Jedova could not help laughing. "Of course I don't!"

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	5. Chapter 5

After the breakfast, the two Jedi walked to the Archives. Jedova could not help noticing how drastically easier the air between them was now. It was almost as if he was with a different person, a clone of his apprentice.

Arya went to a computer and typed Findio Acheta into the search. Multiple results appeared immediately.  
"There's the biography of him," Jedova said as he sat down next to his Padawan.  
"I know." Arya was already opening the file. It told them a lot about this Veledosian man named Findio.  
"So, he is a Phandeosian, trained by his fellow Phandeosian Daa-Rei Chio who became the first Veledosian Grand Master of the Order almost a century after Findio's knighting," Arya began to sum the data up. "He seemed to concentrate on diplomacy, especially during the _Khramoorka-Taa_ war, but failed to prevent and stop _The Poisoning_ and left the Order soon after that. Didn't train Padawans but was promoted to the rank of a Master after he helped solving a series of issues caused by a group of fallen Jedi on the Jedi academy of Obroa-Skai."  
"So he is one of the Lost Nineteen?" Jedova asked.

Arya turned to look around herself to see the Bronzium busts of the Lost Nineteen. Then her eyes found the bust which had a face similar to that of the hologram on the screen.  
"Yeah, one of the lost Masters" Arya said and walked to the bust, observing it. Findio's greatest deeds had been carved on the pedestal, but there was also some odd, shallow carving under the words of Basic. They were letters, ones Arya recalled seeing in the temple of Lianoros village. The meaning of the words had already faded away – had it ever been there in the first place – but the letters translated to some basic words that could be interpreted as "I hate you".

Arya swallowed. There was something eerie about those letters and whatever their carver had meant them as, but she did not express it to her Master. Instead, she turned to look at other busts. She knew each of the Masters by their names, having studied them and learned to know which bust depicted who.  
"He wasn't the only one who left because of _The Poisoning_. Most of them were Knights who wanted to be with their people after the tragedy, but five of the ones to leave were Masters. I guess everyone felt that they would not be understood here," Arya said without thinking if her Master could hear her quiet voice. "It was a rough time and the requirements of the Order have always been hard. Many thought that they could not keep up with others and no one else knew what it felt like... what it felt like to lose a home, a family, just... just everything they knew about themselves deep inside."

Jedova did not say anything. He looked at his Padawan, who was staring into a distance beyond the shelves her eyes saw.  
"All right, we now know about Findio Acheta. But what about his Master, Daa-Rei Chio?" he broke the silence when it became apparent that the girl would not resurface from her thoughts on her own anytime soon. Arya jumped and blinked, as if suddenly returning from a trance. She turned to look at her Master and forced her baffled expression to disappear. She was not exactly sure about what she had thought about, but she nodded and returned back to the computer. Daa-Rei Chio's name gave even more search results, but his biography was the first one among them and that was what they were after.  
"The Grand Master of the Order from 374 after Ruusan Reformation until his death on 423 after Ruusan Reformation," Jedova said. "It says he was a VeledosJedi but there's nothing about him being the first of them to be the Grand Master."  
"Probably irrelevant for this file. I know that I've read that he was the first one, though." Arya read further. "He committed a suicide..." Suddenly, she felt empty with horror. A Grand Master had killed himself? It seemed unthinkable to her.  
"Sounds like things went bad in the end," Jedova said and looked at Arya. The Veledosian seemed to stay silent at first, but then he heard her say barely audibly, "We didn't just fade away... We cut ourselves down too..."

Then she fell completely silent, just staring at Daa-Rei Chio's holographic picture, at the face of the Grand Master who somehow fell so deep down that he had ended up killing himself.

The mere thought of it gave Jedova the chills, so he cleared his throat before preparing to change the subject. He needed something else to think about. "Now we know who they were. Is there anything else we need to find out?"  
Arya tore her eyes away from the screen and looked up to her Master. "Not anything we can find out here in the Archives... Right?"  
"I believe so," Jedova said. "Unless you need to do some research or something for your lessons."  
"I guarantee you, Master, during this year I've had more free time than anyone else in my year group and I haven't used that time for slacking. My work is fully in check," Arya told.  
"I expected only that from you, Padawan," Jedova answered, smiling. "Since you have time before you go meet Master Zakfe, why don't we head to the dojo and see if I can help you out with katas?"

Arya's cloudy eyes brightened. She would finally get some private teaching at katas just like everyone else at her lightsaber classes!  
"Sure!" The girl's voice suddenly lacked the solemnness it had just had. She closed the search window and stood up.  
"Just be prepared for criticism, Padawan. I'm strict when it comes to Form I katas," Jedova told. "At your age you should have mastered the katas from one to ten."

Arya's expression darkened at those words regardless of their neutral tone that the Master had tried to soften the best he could while still retaining strictness. The truth, even one she was already aware of, hurt especially bad when someone said it to her face.  
"I know it's a harsh thing to be said, but it's the truth and you need to know it," Jedova told. He knew he had been nice – maybe even too nice – so far, but he had to show his Padawan that passing his training would not be easy at all. The world outside the Temple was harsh and Arya had to learn that and be ready to survive on her own if they were separated. He knew that no Jedi Master could always protect their Padawan from every threat. There would be a day when he would have to let Arya go, or at least Jedova hoped that day would come.

"You need to learn that nothing is easy and that the world is cold and unforgiving, my Padawan."

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	6. Chapter 6

_At the dojo_

"Master Gla told me what he knows about your skills with a lightsaber, but I'd like to see how you do katas myself," Jedova told calmly. In the Force, Arya still looked hurt by his words in the Archives but on the physical level she hid it behind mirroring his serious expression.  
"Alright." Arya gripped her training lightsaber and ignited it. The green blade came to life.

Arya assumed the beginning position of kata one, closed her eyes and took a deep breath, emptying her mind before beginning. Jedova started to count in a steady pace. Arya let the Force and concentration purge her mind from all emotions as she moved her body and lightsaber through movements she had drilled deep into her muscle memory. _There is no emotion, the is peace._

It felt like the moment when she had sat in meditation position in front of Master Yoda, reciting the Jedi Code as her first Initiate trial, had passed by an eternity ago even though it had happened less than three years ago...

"Kata four now," Jedova's voice returned Arya from her reminiscence. "One... Two... Three..."

He stopped right there. He was not sure if he had seen Arya's footwork right. However, he saw the grimace on the girl's face. Her eyes were open and the whole expression gave a medium for a frustrated, even bitter question: _What did I do wrong?_  
"Repeat the beginning, Padawan. I'm not sure if I saw it right," Jedova said.

Arya just nodded and assumed the beginning position again, closing her eyes. Frustration clamped onto her, fueling a spell of self-hatred. _And here I thought I had mastered this kata!_  
"Go on." Jedova's voice was even. Arya took a deep breath and restarted the kata. _One, two, three, four..._

She kept doing it until the end. Jedova did not say anything or do anything to stop her. Opening her eyes again, Arya turned to look at her Master.

Jedova nodded in approval. Arya sighed, wondering if she had made a mistake on the first try but not on the second try; she did not remember doing any mistakes but it meant little to nothing.  
"Kata five then, if you are ready." Jedova's seriousness faded a bit to give space for supportiveness. Arya did not feel like trusting it, so she just nodded and assumed the beginning position of the next kata. Her confidence and willingness to do this were slowly going down. Suddenly, she preferred her lessons where the teacher's attention was divided; she had a feeling she would be the object of a huge amount of laser-focused nitpicking now that she had private teaching – that thought, while exciting before seeing it realized, was now discouraging whatever confidence she had had.  
"One... two... three..." Jedova's voice penetrated the quiet air of their smaller training room. Clashing of lightsabers came from behind the door where other Jedi sparred in the main room.

Somehow, she had no idea how, Arya managed to finish kata five without any problems. Then it was the time of kata six. The muscles of the girl's jaw tightened as she prepared herself for a great deal of nitpicking.  
"One... Two... Three... Four..." Jedova's pace was much slower. Arya did what she could to not stumble.

Then she stumbled but managed to regain her balance. However, Jedova had become silent. Arya gritted her teeth and waited.  
"You should pay attention to your footwork. Is stumbling your only trouble?" Jedova asked.  
"I guess so," Arya told.  
"You guess?" Jedova repeated. Arya made a face.  
"Show me the part where you stumbled again," Jedova asked. Arya nodded and repeated it, trying to pay attention to how she moved her feet. This time, as her concentration was divided, she fell as she stumbled.

Arya could barely refrain from muttering Veledosian curses after she found herself from her left side, the lightsaber still humming in her tight grip and worst of all, her Master looking down on her, probably hiding his disappointment.

Arya deactivated her training lightsaber and got up with help from Jedova. She was not entirely sure if the help made her feel even more humiliated by her screwup; it probably did.  
"Instead of taking the step forward with your left leg, you do it with your right leg. That causes you to stumble," Jedova noted. "Try paying attention to that."  
Arya nodded.  
"Now try again," Jedova said, receiving another nod as an answer from the grim Padawan.

This time, Arya noticed that she was not even close to stumbling as she did as her Master had instructed.

Suddenly she realized how to correct some mistakes she had kept making with katas. The feeling of enlightenment she suddenly had was amazing; the humiliating event had led to learning something. It had been a long time since she had last experienced that feeling of understanding, so she understood the enlightenment a lot.

Arya stayed as silent as she had been all the time during the training. She kept nodding as Jedova instructed her and told what she was doing wrong. However, the Jedi Master noticed something different in the Padawan's eyes as she listened intently to everything he said. Hurt and frustration had shifted into something closer to determination.

Jedova knew that even with the bond in place the longevity of their Master-Padawan relationship was still questionable. They would have to learn to know each other and how they reacted to each other before their relationship would truly be sturdy enough to persevere. It would take a lot of time and effort as the air between Arya seemed to differ all the time along with the swinging mood of the girl – and it was too often for Jedova to properly keep up with.

The Jedi Master sighed inwardly at that thought. This was definitely a sign that he was getting old.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	7. Chapter 7

The morning passed by fast. Arya did learn quickly, but she still had quite a long way to mastering the katas. Despite of that, Jedova was satisfied; this was going better than he had even hoped for.

Then the girl's stomach announced them that it was lunchtime.

Arya blushed when her stomach growled. By that time, her clothes were soaked with sweat. Those three hours of training had been the hardest ones she had had for a long time – with an instructor, that is. Sometimes, when the words of Jedi Masters who had declined on training her had hurt her the most, she had gone to the dojo and tired herself with a session of rigorous training. Those moments had helped to make the pain disappear, but she had noticed that some had started to think that she did it only to impress someone.

Arya wished they had known what really was behind it. She wished they had noticed the pain that was only now, very slowly, starting to gnaw its way away, leaving a trace, a hole in its wake.

Arya believed in her Master and his wisdom and knowledge about those feelings, but she did not know if even he could ever help fix that hole.

"All right, I think this is enough for today," Jedova said. "Go have lunch."  
"Yes, Master," Arya said, bowing before leaving for the locker room, exhausted. At some points, the training session had been frustrating but once it had started to go well, it had turned out satisfying to even Arya. While she still doubted herself, she knew that she should just give up remembering all the incidents after passing the Initiate Trials and turn to believe in the future instead.

"Arya. One more thing," Jedova's voice called out.  
There was only one step to the door. That step and her Master's words kept the Padawan from leaving. Arya turned around. "Yes, Master?"  
Jedova had a smile on his face as he said, "You did well."  
It took a couple of seconds for the Padawan to comprehend what her Master had just said. Then she smiled. "Thank you, Master!"  
"You're welcome," Jedova replied.

Arya bowed and exited, leaving Jedova alone in the room. The Jedi Master stared at the door, pondering. It had been a lot of time since he had taught Form I katas six to ten at all. While Padawans would learn all the katas on their lessons, usually it was their Master's job to help them master the katas from eleven onwards.

Jedova could only wonder how much there really was to catch up.

After taking a shower, Arya was going to just head to the dining hall, but then she noticed her Master sparring with Master Chaa. She decided to stay in the sidelines and observe. During their mission on Bimmisaari she had not seen her Master wield his lightsaber. Actually, now that she thought about it, she had never seen him wield it or even known what color its blade was. Now she could observe him in a duel-like situation. Maybe she could learn something.

The two Jedi Masters seemed to talk but even with the aid of the Force Arya could not hear their words. _They must read the words from each other's lips_, she concluded.

Arya's stomach growled again. She ignored it and observed the spar. She could identify Jedova's Soresu with ease. Master Chaa, however, used a style Arya did not recognize. Then she identified a maneuver she had only seen holos of: Vonskr's Ferocity, a maneuver specific to Form VII, Juyo. _Does Master Chaa specialize in Form VII?_

It was intriguing to watch a defense-oriented style face an offense-oriented style. The two Jedi were even and there was no telling which one of them would win. This was but one of the countless spars which had evolved during the decades as the two Jedi had learned, practiced and defined their styles.

Jedova kept blocking the furious blows of his friend. The Force was blazing with the controlled fury of Phayeth Chaa, and Jedova could only dodge, defend himself and stay behind his shields – both the Force shielding he naturally kept around himself (even though he had to enforce it to keep Phayeth from storming right through it) and the physical shield that his lightsaber formed.

All the attacks he could have possibly had the chance to make would have been useless, anyway, since he knew that Phayeth could either dodge them or use the opening he would give while attacking to his advantage. He just had to wait until Phayeth tired himself with the furious _way of the Vornskr_, those horrendous slams his lightsaber made as it hit with its counterpart. If Jedova had not gotten used to this beating in which Phayeth seemed to take every bad, annoying and infuriating thing on him, he would have already tired his arms by dodging less in favor of intercepting the blue blade with his purple one.  
_Maybe I should start doing more Niman on this councilor?_ Jedova wondered. If he could stretch the whips of fury just a bit to make them bend to smack Phayeth instead of him...

Arya stared at the spar. She had not seen such fighting before. Such mastery at using lightsaber made her feel jealous; it would take an eternity for her to reach such a level.  
"Hey!" A familiar voice startled her.  
The girl turned to look at who it was. it turned out to be the boy who had scorched the back of her hand on yesterday's lightsaber lesson. "Yes?"  
"Just wanted to say I'm sorry about yesterday," the boy told.

A powerful crack and an outcry, followed by a thump, made them both turn their heads towards the sparring Jedi Masters. Simultaneous with the first two voices, a tremble came to Arya through the new bond; Phayeth had broken through Jedova's shielding with a great amount of force. The unlucky Jedi Master was on his left side on the floor, seemingly unconscious.

The sight made Arya's blood run cold, as if Rikios the Chirein herself had breathed her element, Ice, into her veins throughout her whole body. A part of her wanted to rush to the Jedi Master but she could not move. She felt like the bottom of her stomach had vanished and her legs had turned into lead.

For a fleeting moment, it felt like the time had stopped, but then Arya saw Master Chaa approach his quickly resuscitating friend. Jedova shook his head in daze.  
"Are you ok?" Master Chaa asked. Jedova took a moment to recover enough to mutter an intelligible answer.  
"Wow... now _that_ was something," the boy muttered in awe.

Arya felt odd sensations of ache creep to her senses. Her Master's shields were broken big time. She knew it was time to leave and get some distance.

Besides, her stomach was complaining. She had to get something to eat.

When the boy turned to look at his Veledosian colleague, she was no longer there.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	8. Chapter 8

Jedova was fully aware of Arya's presence during his spar with Phayeth. As his shields shattered around his mind, things threatened to leak from behind them, from the farthest ends of his mind, but at the same time Arya's feelings seemed to creep to his mind. He felt shock and fright – even such helplessness he did not recall experiencing – as the foremost feelings, but there was something else coming in the wake of those feelings.

As a panic-like reaction, Jedova tried to reform his shields to keep the well-hidden secrets deep inside away from bothering anyone. He was most worried about how Arya would react to them. Right now, he truly had not to mess up. Arya would not leave him at least yet – he hoped so – for he was her only chance to become a Jedi Knight, but there would be a day when she could get someone else to train her to Knighthood if she deemed him... insufficient for herself.

Jedova knew that in the end he may not be the right Jedi to train the Veledosian girl, but he did not want to fail on his second female Padawan either way. The time with Lucian after Jaminere had been enough for the rest of his lifetime, let it be long or short.

When he turned to look at the direction where the two Padawans had both been, he saw the door close behind Arya. The shared feelings disappeared as they both quickly made new shields to protect them and keep them away. Jedova did not want to subject his Padawan to feelings he had hidden or downright refused to acknowledge the existence of for long. He believed the girl was going through enough and did not need any more stress – especially not such caused by him!

However, the returning shields did not erase the fact that a part of the feelings Arya kept hidden had leaked to him and vice versa. He had lost the accidental and unintended access to the flow of thought of the girl, so he did not know if she, too, thought that the mishap had already happened.

At least he thought that she did because that mishap had truly happened. They had to discuss about it later, maybe even meditate on the feelings they had just picked up.

He made a mental note to himself about teaching Arya more about mental shielding to lessen the possibility of this happening again.

If something was his specialty, it was that.

Everything felt like blur around Arya. She let her feet take her towards her destination as she tried to make sense of what she felt now. She did not really understand why she had frozen like that. It had been a sudden shock she had not been able to control, stop or avoid even though she should have been. She was a Jedi in control of herself – she should not have frozen the way she had.

Arya knew that she had to get used to such sight she had seen: her Master lying unconscious, beaten, unable to help her. There was the possibility of a similar scenario happening in a real-life situation. _No, not just a possibility_, Arya reminded herself. _It_ will _happen someday..._

The chatter coming from the dining hall made Arya remember where she was. She pushed her thoughts aside and entered the quite full hall. It seemed that most of the Jedi who were at the Temple right now were there at the moment eating lunch – or in someones' case the breakfast – but there was still space for more people. Arya did not see anyone familiar there, so she just went to an empty table and started to eat in silence, hoping that the food was still going somewhere even though she still felt like her stomach had no physical bottom anymore.

The Padawan heard a lot of chatter in different languages; not all Jedi spoke Basic if they could avoid it despite of being able to, after all. She listened to some voices tell about planets far away and species she had never seen. She had heard her fellow Padawans talk about cantinas where they could hear a lot of things they had never even heard about on their lessons.

Despite of that, sometimes Arya thought that she did not need to go to a cantina to hear similar things. She could learn a lot by just listening to the countless conversations in the dining hall of the Jedi Temple. A lot of wisdom, knowledge and information flowed in the Force's currents in those numerous conversations every single hour and day.

It was easier to just eat and leave immediately instead of staying to listen more. There was too much noise to her taste. Besides, she wanted to meditate before going to look for the Jedi artisan Zakfe.

When she left, Arya did not notice a certain Zabrak looking right at her.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	9. Chapter 9

Arya sat on a bench. Usually she preferred the ground – or the floor if anything like ground was not available – but this time she sat on a bench to remind herself that she was supposed to go soon.

The Padawan closed her eyes and forgot the environment around her. She paid attention only to her feelings. Whatever she had picked up from the Force's current at the dojo when her Master's shield had been smashed by Master Chaa, it was old, something which had been somewhere deep within for years, maybe even decades.

There was something in those feelings that made her feel aghast, something that tore at her own spirit. She wanted to just release them to the Force, get rid of them so that she would not have to think of them anymore. She did not want to deal with them; they were not her feelings, after all.

And release them she did. The feelings faded away into the current she had been a part of for longer than she could remember – for her whole life.

Someone sat next to her and inquired if the Padawan minded them. Arya returned a negative answer and let the Jedi – a Master, it seemed – meditate with her.

_There is no emotion, there is peace._

Arya did not prefer the version of the Jedi Code mantra she had recited two years ago to pass the first of her Initiate trials. She preferred the shorter version, not for its shortness but because of the difference between it and the longer version.

Something like "_There is_ no _emotion, there is peace_" just did not feel right because even the oldest, most experienced and wisest Jedi Masters still felt emotions – or at least Arya thought that they still did.c

Time was flying as she let her emotions fade at the wake of calmness or at least the lack of feeling anything. She needed to get going to find artisan Zakfe now.

Arya opened her eyes and turned to bow to the Jedi next to her, but as soon as she turned, she recognized the yellow Zabrak. "Master Zakfe! I was actually going to look for you."  
"I thought so as soon as I heard that you had been chosen as a Padawan," Master Zakfe responded with a smile on her face. "I believe it is about time you make your own lightsaber."  
"It is," Arya responded and gave a thought for telling the artisan about the lightsaber parts. "Actually... there is one thing about that..."  
"What is it?" Master Zakfe asked, curious.  
"I kinda have already gotten some lightsaber parts," Arya told. "It's complicated."  
"Now is it?" Master Zakfe asked. "Maybe we can see about it at the workspace?" She gave a look at the Padawan's clothing. "I take it that you don't carry them with you right now."  
The corners of Arya's mouth twitched. "That's true, Master Zakfe."  
"Go fetch those parts then and meet me at the workspace." The Jedi artisan stood up, Arya following her.  
"Yes, right away, Master," the girl said and bowed. Then she turned to rush to her quarters to get the parts of the lightsaber which had belonged to Findio Acheta.

_About five minutes later_

"What do you know about these parts?" Master Zakfe asked as she inspected the metal parts and the crystals. The three crystals seemed capable of Force sensitivity, but whatever attunement they had ever had, it had been negated.  
"Quite little," Arya told. "They seem to date some centuries back."  
"Have you discussed these parts with your Master?" Master Zakfe asked, looking right into the Padawan's eyes.  
"Yes, I have," Arya answered evenly, undeterred.  
"What did he say? Is there any information about the previous owner of this now-dismantled lightsaber?"  
"As far as we found out, a VeledosJedi named Findio Acheta owned this lightsaber before," Arya told. "That's all we know."  
"Really?" Master Zakfe asked.  
Arya nodded. "Really."  
"I see," Master Zakfe said and inspected the parts. She had only heard about VeledosJedi – a VeledosJedi artisan named Ifrea Jeir was her idol. However, the Veledosians had disappeared a very long time ago, only to have Arya appear as their representative in this era. Some of the lightsaber parts were old indeed, some even slightly damaged. Many of them should be replaced, although the design could reconstructed anyway if necessary.

Master Zakfe took the crystals and inspected them meticulously one at a time. All of them required polishing, but otherwise they were perfectly usable.  
"Have you told the Council about finding these parts? How did you find these anyway?" she asked the Padawan.  
"Only you and my Master know about these. I got them from some odd... forms about two years ago. I really can't explain it," Arya confessed.  
"If you are to use these parts, I recommend you to replace all the components both for the sake of improved functionality and the better condition. The same goes for most of the metallic parts, too, since they have suffered," Master Zakfe told. "The crystals require polishing and attuning to the Force, but otherwise they are perfectly usable if you wish to use them."

Arya realized that up to that point she had never thought of using the crystals herself. She had always thought that she would go to Ilum like the rest of her fellow Padawans – including Gomorrah, who had initially gotten a green crystal there, although he had changed it for a yellow one a year later.

Arya had to confess to herself that imagining herself with a green or blue blade had never felt right, not even before acquiring the scroll. However, did these three crystals speak to her? Did she want a gray lightsaber?

Master Zakfe waited for her reply, understanding what the Padawan's silence was about. Due to the circumstances of how she had become a Padawan, it was kind of understandable that the girl had come partly ill-prepared.

Arya connected herself to the flow of the Force, hoping that it would tell her whether or not she should pick these crystals or not. She could feel the answer coming.

It was _yes, pick a gray crystal_.

"The Force wants me to use one of these," Arya declared.  
"What about the two others?" Master Zakfe asked. "Do you sense what should happen to them?"  
"I… I don't know," Arya told. "I feel that they should be safeguarded, used for something else, perhaps someone else's lightsaber or some other item."  
"Then I will leave the two other crystals to you. The Force will reveal its will regarding them to you in time," Master Zakfe noted.  
"Thank you," Arya said.

Now that the crystal matter was settled, Master Zakfe led Arya to pick some parts for her lightsaber. Arya remembered the lessons about lightsabers and crafting them well, so she remembered the required parts by heart. In addition to that, back when she had not doubted becoming a Padawan she had daydreamed about this moment often, imagining what she would pick and what kind of a lightsaber she would make.

The only thing that has been missing in that image was the actual appearance of the lightsaber; it was normal that Padawans designed their lightsabers to look like their Master's lightsaber as a mark of respect. Arya wanted to belong to the mainstream in that.

Arya knew what Jedova's lightsaber looked like. She remembered it clearly from seven years ago when Jedova had told her about his life and the galaxy beyond the village of Lianoros tribe. _This weapon, a lightsaber, is a Jedi's life. One must not lose it_, the Jedi Master had told her. She had kept those words in her mind as she had learned to handle the weapon.

Choosing the parts which made up the appearance of her lightsaber was difficult. She pondered for a long while, letting the Force be her guide as she carefully picked pieces with an image forming in her mind as she progressed. Master Zakfe monitored her silently, waiting as the girl made her choices. She was taking more time than most of the Padawans, the artisan noted to herself. It was now clear that Arya had come without any actual plan for her lightsaber.

Anyone else than a Jedi would have thought that the girl was picking things randomly, but Zakfe could feel how the Force was at work with the girl. There was a logic in the moves she made, a certain order in which she picked up components. As a Jedi artisan, Zakfe had learned to recognize such patterns as she had instructed Padawans and Initiates at crafting lightsabers.

After some time, Arya had the puzzle which was to be her lightsaber completed in her mind. Master Zakfe noticed that Arya took a look at the old lightsaber parts and picked something up along with one of the crystals.  
"Are you ready now?" Master Zakfe asked the girl, who nodded as an answer. There was something different in her eyes; they seemed slightly clouded.

Master Zakfe realized that along with seemingly improvising her plan for her lightsaber Arya had sunk to a light trance.  
"Then follow me so that you can polish the crystal," the artisan used a slightly more commanding voice, now receiving an unclear mutter as an answer. That mutter sounded enough like the answer she expected, so she walked to one of the corners of the spacious workspace, trusting that the Veledosian Padawan followed her.

She did not manage to provoke any more verbal answers from the girl as she told her what to do. The nods were the only indicator that the girl was listening in her trance.

With an inward sigh, Master Zakfe let Arya work on the crystal. In the beginning, the girl was careful, testing her focus and skills. Her eyes became clearer and for a moment Master Zakfe thought that she had either woken up or was waking up from that trance. Yet once the young Padawan got used to the task and got the idea of what to do, she fell back to that trance.

_Maybe her Master has already taught her something about trances?_ the artisan pondered.

Some younger Padawans, recently-chosen too, arrived at the workspace and Master Zakfe went farther away from Arya to instruct them.  
"Why is that girl there working on a crystal alone?" asked a female Duros.  
"She came here earlier to work on her own lightsaber. Her crystal needs polishing before it can be used at its best," Master Zakfe explained.  
"Isn't that Arya Deinden? The Veledosian from Boma clan?" asked a male Zabrak.  
"Yes. She, just like you, was recently chosen by a Jedi Master. Don't disturb her," Master Zakfe answered, looking at Arya inspecting it before returning to polishing it. "She is doing an extremely precise task. One mistake can ruin the crystal."

The new Padawans looked at the concentrating girl. She was either oblivious of their presence or just ignored them. No one could tell which it was as her back faced them.

After instructing the Padawans, Master Zakfe let them work in the cacophony of different tools and walked to Arya, who was finishing her crystal.  
"Is everything all right?" she asked the girl. The answer was a mumble which sounded a lot like "yeah". The artisan noticed a small fault the girl could not fix with her limited skills. "Now why don't you let me finish that one?" Master Zakfe asked, carefully putting her hands on Arya's, taking the tools and the crystal without receiving resistance.

The girl blinked a lot once left without a task. Master Zakfe believed that she had now broken the trance as she fixed the scratch which had gone unnoticed by Arya. After taking a quick but precise look on the crystal she deemed it ready.  
"Now you can join other Padawans and put the parts together," she told the girl who smiled as a response. The trance seemed to have developed a tight root and it was not going to leave yet.

The girl nodded again, not saying a word. She just started walked to the other part of the workspace and got back to work.

The other Padawans asked for help and left one by one as they finished their hilts. They all would travel to Ilum to get a lightsaber crystal later. Yet even after all of them had left, Arya stayed and worked silently.  
"Should you take a break?" Master Zakfe suggested. Arya did not respond, just continued to work.  
"Arya, did you hear me?" Master Zakfe slightly raised the volume of her voice. A slow nod came as an answer.

"Do you want to keep working?" A nod again. "Do you need help?" No response. "Does your lack of answer mean 'no'?" A nod. "(Sigh) All right."

_Two hours later_

Jedova looked at the chrono. It was already 2100 but he had not seen Arya anywhere. The girl had not even been seen at the dining hall around dinner. Due to an old instinct left by the time of Degu's apprenticeship, he thought that the girl might have gone outside to... well, maybe not hunt for criminals to arrest them, but something.

However, the girl's Force signature suggested something else, so Jedova navigated through the Jedi Temple's corridors to where it was: artisan Zakfe's workspace.

A sudden strike of nostalgia hit him. It had been very long since he had been there last time and even longer since he had crafted his own lightsaber as a Padawan there. He knocked lightly and artisan Zakfe let him in.  
"Your Padawan has been working on her lightsaber for hours," she told with a low volume. Jedova glanced past her to see the girl attaching something onto the hilt.  
"She has been in a trance for most of the time," Master Zakfe continued, still keeping her voice down.  
"A trance?" Jedova's eyebrows shot up; he had not expected that.  
"Are you surprised by that?"  
"Yes, I am."  
"She does not communicate much. In addition to that, she has refused to take a break. I have a feeling she won't leave until she is ready."  
"So she hasn't even gone to eat dinner?"  
"No. I have been here all the time to monitor her."  
"May I take over so that you can take a break?"  
"As long as you promise to come and get me if a problem occurs."  
"I promise that."  
"Thank you."

The relieved Master Zakfe left and Jedova walked closer to the girl, taking a look at the hilt-in-progress. Knowing his own lightsaber, Jedova could spot similarities between the incomplete hilt and his lightsaber. The gray crystals lay on the table, one of them glowing faintly. Its Force sensitivity had been awakened, it seemed.

Arya kept on working. Jedova tried to get a connection to her, but she did not answer. She only would nod if her answer was positive. Jedova sat down and meditated while keeping an eye on his apprentice. However, the day had been long and he had not slept enough last night, so he started to nod off, noticing that Arya could see it; there was a slight change in the position of the girl's eyebrows but she did not say anything. She was fixated on her work, seemingly ignoring the sleepy man.

Jedova saw only darkness around himself – actually, only darkness and a blurry specter in a robe now that he looked around more. It held a lightsaber – or more like lightclub – far bigger than any he had seen or even heard of. It was extremely weirdly ornated. The yellow glow hurt Jedova's eyes in the darkness, but even worse was the neon blue edge of the blade. It felt like a murder to his eyes, yet he could not turn his head and look away anymore. He could not even close his eyes to block most of the light away.  
"You have initiated the countdown, Chomeja. Yet it's late already. It should've happened a good while ago to avoid any damage. You, who are ready to face the future, prepare for the consequences of being the only one to take this path when those who were in time to do that did not do it," the specter told with an odd voice. It was a bass much lower than Jedova's own, yet it was higher than that of the opera singer Lisien. It sounded male, but still there was something that could have made Jedova say that it was a voice of a female person. Nevertheless, he could not decide what that voice was as the specter raised its saber and slashed it at him. Neon blue surrounding blight yellow came at him.

Gasping, Jedova sat up faster than he had in a long time, hearing some of his joints crackle. He tried to catch his breath as the lightsaber blade's colors lingered in his eyes. Then he realized that he was sweaty and that Arya was next to him, silent yet worried.

It had been a dream. Just a dream.

Jedova closed his eyes and carefully evened his breathing. Heartbeat by heartbeat, his body calmed down.  
"Are you ok, Master?" Arya's voice asked, her voice quiet. Jedova opened his eyes and turned to look at the girl.  
"Yes. I just had a... vivid dream, that's all," he told. He still had to blink to get the yellow and neon blue away. Arya just looked at him, waiting for him to say something.  
"Is your lightsaber ready?" Jedova asked.  
"Apart from attuning and placing the crystal," Arya told. "Too tired for it now."  
"You have been working for long. Master Zakfe said that you worked in a trance," Jedova noted. Arya frowned.  
"Don't you remember it?" Jedova asked.  
"I have kinda blurry memories of what I've been doing. As if I had been partly unconscious or something," Arya told, scratching the back of her head.

The door opened and the two Jedi looked at it. Master Zakfe poked her head inside.  
"Finally finished the hilt, Padawan Deinden?" the Zabrak asked.  
"Yes, Master Zakfe," Arya answered.  
"Excellent. Your Master can instruct you to the end of the process tomorrow or whenever you choose to finish your lightsaber," Master Zakfe told and eyed the two Jedi. "You should go to sleep now."  
"Indeed," Jedova agreed and stood up, Arya following suit with a yawn. "Now don't even dare to fall asleep on the way, Padawan."  
"Yeees, Master," Arya yawned. At the door, she bowed to the artisan and walked outside alongside her Master.  
"Shall we start tomorrow at the same time as today?" Jedova suggested, an amused smile on his face.  
"Master, please, no," Arya groaned.  
Jedova chuckled. "Oh course not, Padawan. 0800 should be a normal time, right?"  
"Suuuuuuuuure." Arya could not help yawning. Her ability to think was slowly going down and she felt like she did not have the will to object.

Jedova wanted to wrap his arm around the girl's shoulders to make sure that she stayed with him, but he was positive that keeping Arya that close would only result in the Padawan falling asleep. He did not want to carry her to their quarters.

In the end, as they were both going to their own rooms, Arya did not even get her door closed when she ultimately dozed off on her feet. Jedova only heard the thump as Arya's body hit the floor. He turned back to see what had happened.  
"Well all right," he muttered, walked through the common room, lifted his apprentice and carefully placed her on her sleep couch. "You better make sure this won't happen again soon, Padawan."

A quiet grumble came out of the girl's throat, as if she had at least tried to answer him. Jedova sighed. "Good night, Arya."

With those words, he left the room and closed the door behind him. It was time to sleep now for them both.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	10. Chapter 10

When Jedova woke up, the chrono read 0900. The Jedi Master got up, yawning and unable to understand how his body's rhythm had been disturbed like this. He should have woken up an hour ago yet he was still tired.

It did not matter. He would wake up properly by the time he finished his morning routines.

Stretching as usual. Then he changed his clothes, musing that if he had slept for this long, then Arya must still be asleep.

He was surprised to find the girl in the common room, meditating on the floor. She did not sit with her legs crossed like Jedi usually did, kneeling on the floor instead. There was nothing odd with meditating on one's knees – some Jedi preferred that in all situations, after all – but Arya had bent her ankles so that her toes were against the floor, her sole otherwise exposed. Had anyone pushed her from behind, she could have easily fallen on her face.

Suddenly aware of his presence, the girl stood up from the floor, smiling. "Good morning, Master!"  
"Good morning to you too, Padawan. You have been busy, haven't you?" Jedova asked, taking a look at the pot of tea that, judging from the smell and the steam coming out of it, waited for a drinker.  
"Not really." Any grimness Arya had had yesterday seemed to be gone. "I really am not one to drink tea but I decided to prepare some before you woke up."  
"That's very kind of you, my Padawan." Jedova could not help smiling at the carefree attitude – it was likely that he would not see it for too long in the girl. He had seen such carefreeness fade away as younglings and Padawans had grown older.

Sören and Lucian had always been different than Arya, more serious from the start, but Jedova could see some similarities between her and Degu; at the age of twelve, they had both been cheerful even to the point of it being contagious. However, during the years, Degu had become more serious and reserved, as if incorporating his Master's demeanor into his own. Being a Veledosian, Arya would live much longer than any human. Jedova could not help but wonder what the now smiling girl would be like when she would be a Jedi Master herself. Would she glare at the world around her, deeply hurt by something, or gaze to the horizon with wisdom – wisdom part of which Jedova hoped would be from him – or just march onwards because there was nothing else to be done?

From those options, Jedova wished it would be the one with wisdom. However, if he could decide it, if he could do just _anything_ to affect what Arya would be like, Jedova wished her to look to the future with hope and a smile on her face. Jedova knew that such a matter was not in his hands, though. In the end, he would not be there to see the outcome.  
"Is everything ok, Master?" Arya's worried voice woke Jedova up from his thoughts.  
"Ah, yes, everything is fine," Jedova told.  
"Is that dream you saw at the artisan workspace bothering you?" Arya asked. She knew that Padawans are not allowed to interrogate their Master, but she was worried; she had not forgotten how Jedova had writhed in his sleep. The dream must have been a violent one, she thought.

Jedova blinked and stayed silent. He had not even thought about it; he had only focused on getting the yellow and blue out of his eyes after the dream. Yet the words of that odd specter returned to his mind and he could not comprehend them. What was the countdown it had spoken about? What did the specter mean by anything it had said?  
"Dreams are just dreams. Even those the Force gives usually are not what they look like," Jedova told.  
Arya frowned. "You did not answer the question, Master."  
Jedova sighed. The girl was persistent.  
"I really don't know if it bothers me," he told. "I hope not."

Arya did not seem satisfied with the answer but she did not say anything about it. Instead, she just nodded and sat back down on the floor, crossing her legs this time. Jedova joined her for a moment for his morning meditation, but after refreshing his mind he got up and got his mug. There was nothing that could beat a cup of good tea in the morning. Jedova knew that many would think that it was very little for someone to be satisfied with, but during the course of the many years of his life he had learned to appreciate the tiny things in life. He hoped that he had managed to pass at least a hint of it to his apprentices.

Jedova looked at Arya. The Padawan was taking time with her meditation. _Could she be upset about something?_

Then he understood what was going on as a new Force signature flickered to life in the girl's hands. _The crystal!_

With a great amount of interest, Jedova got up from the table and, taking his mug with him, he sat next to Arya and watched as the gray crystal's glow dimmed and brightened steadily like it was breathing. Arya attuned the crystal to the Force with a lot of care; she did not want to fail this important part.

The girl's stomach growled; she had not eaten anything ever since yesterday's lunch. Jedova waited patiently for her to finish with the crystal. Outside of missions, it was up to Arya herself to make sure that she ate something regularly.

Arya opened up her eyes at some point, blinking. Then she turned to look at the crystal.  
"Do you think the crystal is ready?" Jedova asked. Arya turned her head quickly to him, blinking even more. Then she turned her head back and massaged her temples, huffing.  
"You were in a deep trance," Jedova noted.  
"I know. I got some hellish visions," Arya told, frowning. Her head hurt from the visions. "It was intense."

Jedova remembered having visions when he had been in the same situation; that had been on Ilum, where such visions happened to everyone who finished their lightsabers there. Years later, he had also seen quite some visions in the peace of one the Temple's most secluded meditation rooms when he had created and imbued his synthetic purple crystal with the Force after receiving the rank of a Jedi Master for training Sören into knighthood and deciding that it was time for him to cut all ties to his past as a Padawan.  
"Do you want to tell what they were about?" he asked, then added hastily, "Just like with the visions on Ilum, you don't need to share the visions you saw here, though."  
Arya frowned at the crystal, visibly troubled. "How can they be explained? There so many things happening and they changed so quickly that I could barely follow them. There were explosions, fighting, shrieking and whatnot. It was a literal hell."  
"Visions that people get when they work on their crystals, whether it's on Ilum or somewhere else, never make sense, especially on Ilum. They should be called hallucinations, rather than visions," Jedova told. It did not seem to cheer Arya up at all. "Maybe you could take them all apart, describe what happened between each change. Could it help you to at least fathom what you saw?"  
Arya turned her head back towards him. "I didn't say that those visions trouble me or anything."  
"But they do trouble you. Trust me, I see it," Jedova said softly. "You don't need to say it aloud."

Arya tore her gaze away from her Master again and closed her eyes. She felt her Master's hand on her shoulder. The light grip was comforting. Arya let the crystal fall to her left hand and raised her right hand to take a hold of her Master's hand. The skin of the back of Jedova's hand was rough, it's smoothness lost during the course of countless of missions in different environments.  
"You are not alone, Padawan," Jedova's voice told with a soft tone. "You can always share your burden with me."

The deep bass voice was calming. Arya concentrated on that feeling and her Master's encouraging presence. It did not make the entangled visions any clearer, but it made thinking easier. It made letting go of the anxiety easier.  
"I think I can separate the visions, but if I just say the words aloud, it won't help. It won't help me understand, because I forget the rest," Arya said, opening her eyes.  
"Then write it all down," Jedova said. "We can recount the visions and what happened in them that way."

Arya turned to look at him, eyes lighted with realization. Jedova smiled and said, "Go get your datapad and start writing. Write every detail you can recall."  
"Yes, Master," the Padawan replied, got up and quickly fetched her datapad. Jedova got up from the floor and returned to the table. What was left of his tea had cooled down a long time ago, but despite of that he kept sipping it as he watched how swiftly Arya typed. Numerous lines of text came within minutes.

When Arya was done, she shook her hands. They hurt after such a workout.  
"Eleven visions," she sighed and turned the datapad to face her Master, "here you go."  
"Thank you," Jedova said and started to read.

_Vision one: Complete darkness. Ten lightsabers – two blue, two green, two purple (different shades), two white, one yellow, one gray – all ignited at once with numerous red lightsabers. A fight ensues. Some other lightsabers join it as faint lights.  
Vision two: A group of Veledosians on a battle field, singing a song I can't identify nor understand, standing against three tanks which have the Republic's emblem on them. The tanks shoot once, hitting the group and killing them immediately. Only corpses and fire are left as the tanks drive over the remains.  
Vision three: The Jedi Temple is on fire. Then I see seven villages on fire – one looks like the village of Lianoros and I feel the need to rush there to help. I can't move. Fire engulfs me.  
Vision four: Giant blue crystals shatter with noise, and I see myself in the middle of them. Pieces fall all around me and I have nowhere to go to avoid getting hit. The sharp edges cut me and I bleed. There's nothing I can do to stop it. I fall down on my knees.  
Vision five: A purple lightsaber fighting against someone with a red lightsaber. Suddenly the red blade hits through the purple blade, breaking it. The purple-bladed lightsaber shorts out and refuses to reactivate. The red blade comes right at the person with the purple blade – right at my very own perspective.  
Vision six: Blaster shots. I couldn't notice anything else before the vision changed.  
Vision seven: Dark, rotten forms attack a man who is lying on his right side on the ground, badly hurt. He ignites a magenta-bladed lightsaber, trying to defend himself. I can't see the forms falling in front of that blade, but I hear them shrieking. I am somewhere high and I can't go down to help. It feels like I'm chained. Then voices of countless of explosions vibrate and make the walls shake. I fall but the pit does not end.  
Vision eight: A team falls into a crevice of rock and snow. Some die immediately, others survive. They can't move. Raven-like birds encircle them and some start to pick the flesh of the dead. Others take their weapons, their comlinks, whatever items they have that they can get. Then my perspective changes to that of one of the survivors. With agony gnawing my body, I see one of the birds taking something that looks like a lightsaber. I reach for it, whispering a name I don't remember, but it's useless. The rest of the birds suddenly fly away as something startles them. I see nothing... nothing else than the red blade which finishes every surviving one off... After that it's just me and the blue sky.  
Vision nine: Tribespeople look up to the sky from their hideout and gasp. Some of their own land near them with jetpacks, carrying bodies of young and dead. There had been a carnage.  
Vision ten: A class of Jedi Initiates practicing katas. The walls suddenly crumble and fall apart right on them. They don't have enough time to run at all, and only one survives – one Dark...  
Vision eleven: A Rancor is let out of the cage. It rushes towards a village._

Jedova lifted his eyes from the text and looked at Arya. The Padawan had been fiddling the crystal all the time he had been reading.  
"Quite violent and hopeless visions," he remarked quietly. "The feeling of being unable to do anything to stop horrible things from happening is dominant in them."  
"Like I said, hellish," Arya whispered, looking at the table.  
"But they mean nothing. Those visions are not real," Jedova said.  
"But what if they are?" Arya looked into her Master's eyes. "What if they will come true someday? The Jedi Temple has been attacked before. It could be attacked again!"  
"It was during the time of the Sith. The Sith have been no more for almost a millennium now," Jedova reminded the girl.  
"But... what if they return? What if they are reborn?" Arya asked, frightened by the idea. "They came to being once. They could do that again!"  
"They cannot. There are too few Sith artifacts and and too little knowledge left outside our hold. And even if there was enough, we could prevent their rise or at least defeat them. Arya, don't think of such absurd 'if's," Jedova said. "That's not what a Jedi does."

Once again, Arya turned her gaze away from her Master's eyes and looked down on something – this time the table. Jedova could sense what it was about: a need to know everything. Luckily, he knew exactly how to react to it.  
"Listen, Padawan. You can't know everything. There will always be holes in one's knowledge and not all things are healthy to know at all anyway. Some things we see, hear or even _know_ are not true. Especially when missions become much more complicated, you will no doubt have little to no information about something important," he told. Arya frowned, a bit bothered by the fact that her Master had seen through her like that.  
"Are you frowning because of what I said or is there something else?" Jedova asked.  
"I'm just not used to someone noticing everything I feel," Arya muttered as an answer.  
Jedova smiled with understanding. "I remember how that felt. Don't worry about it. It'll go away during the course of the years when your personality gets more depth. It's part of growing up."

Preoccupied by the attempt to turn her impatient thoughts into words without sounding like a youngling, Arya did not say anything.  
"Besides, I have extensive studies at psychology. I had to get such when I was the apprentice of Xyrego Odyrogo," Jedova added.  
"What was it like to be his Padawan?" Arya asked, raising her eyes again, this time determined to keep the eye contact. The change of subject was welcome.  
"It wasn't the most orthodox Master-Padawan relationship. You know, usually people discuss with words – even if they are not said aloud," Jedova said, reminiscing a team he had met a long time ago; that team had shared information in written form. "Master Xurego rarely used any words especially in the first years, mostly because of the limited capability of telepathy between us. Usually, there wasn't time to write anything, which is no miracle, considering that... how often we had trouble we could not affect."  
"But you still managed to work things out," Arya remarked. "You still finished the training, Master."

A flash of pain flickered in Jedova's eyes as Xurego's maddened anger hit his mind, like a punch to the gut.  
"Master? Did I say something wrong?" Arya asked, worried. Jedova shook himself out of the painful memories mentally and shook his head.  
"I finished my training, yes, but not with Master Xurego." He sighed. "Even before... before he... became incapable of continuing to teach me due to his health going down, I had to rely on other Jedi Masters to progress in quite a lot of things. And for the last months I trained under a Weapon Master named Thrion Aslas."

Arya remembered what she had heard about Xurego Odyrogo. She did not want to open up such scars her Master had borne for so many years. Therefore, she fell silent.  
"You know, I noticed that you stayed to watch me spar with Phayeth yesterday," Jedova changed the subject, pushing the old thoughts away.  
"What about it?" Arya asked.  
"You did pick up something after my shields got shattered, am I correct?" Jedova asked, trying to avoid looking like he was interrogating his Padawan.  
"I... I felt that it was for the best to not meddle with that and just... released it to the Force," Arya told.  
"Do you recall something specific about them?" Jedova asked.

Arya turned her head away. She did not want to go through this conversation. She did not want to face what she had left behind: those feelings, the sudden feeling of violating someone's privacy.  
"It's ok, Padawan," Jedova said. "There is nothing wrong with what you sensed. They are not your feelings."  
"They are yours," Arya told. "No matter how old they might be, they are yours. I feel like I violated your privacy."  
"It is not your fault." Jedova's voice was a bit sterner. "The fault is mine for letting Phayeth smash my shields into pieces like that. Maybe I can't avoid such a situation sometime in the future, but there is one way to prevent you from sensing my feelings. It's that I teach you mental shielding so that you can keep external influences away from vexing you."

Arya turned back to look at the adamant expression of her Master's with hope. She remembered yesterday's kata lesson, but she was more than willing to learn something completely new to her.  
"It will take a long time to learn, let alone master, but I'm sure you can do it," Jedova said. "However, before that you really should finish up your lightsaber."  
"Sure," Arya said.

Then her stomach roared louder than it had in a long time. The girl's face went dark red and she looked away in embarrassment. Jedova started to laugh but covered his mouth to stifle that laughter as he sensed Arya's embarrassment. He cleared his throat.  
"Although, maybe you should go to eat something first," he said and heard his own stomach grumble. "And I have a feeling I'd better do the same."

Arya nodded and took a deep breath. She tried to will her face to go back to its normal color. For a moment she just waited, her face slowly paling. Jedova stood up and waited for his Padawan to do the same. The girl followed suit when she was ready.

It still felt odd for Arya to follow a Jedi Master inside the Temple. She had been a loner for a good while, so being part of a team consisting of a Master and a Padawan was odd and unfamiliar. Nevertheless, Arya knew that she would get used to it.

She had to.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	11. Chapter 11

As they sat down at a table in the dining hall, Jedova could not help being amused by the differences between the amounts of food he and his apprentice, an adult man and a young girl probably half his weight, had taken. It was just like when he had been a Padawan; Xurego had taken a relatively small amount while he had taken a lot of food. Well, he had usually been terribly hungry when he had gotten to eat.

Now, from his point of view, the roles were reversed; he was the Master, not the Padawan, and with the years of his body growing far behind he did not require just as much food to keep going.

Arya did not note anything about the situation. She just ate with a lot of enthusiasm. Jedova could not help grinning at it; it was like he had been transported back into the early years with Degu. He started to eat more calmly than his apprentice; with the lesser amount of food he could take his time.

Sooner than the Master expected, Arya was already finished with her heap of food. Jedova did not make any remarks on that. The girl waited for him to finish, but against her expectations Jedova slowed down.  
"Master," Arya said quietly. She was getting impatient; she wanted to finish her lightsaber.

Jedova stopped eating and glanced at his Padawan.  
"Yes?" he asked with the same volume.  
"Why are you still slowing down? Are you like... testing my patience or something?" Arya tried to make her message clear without sounding disrespectful.  
"Are you in a hurry?" Jedova asked. "You do not have lessons due to timetable arrangements, right?"  
"I'd like to get to finish my lightsaber," Arya noted. _Screw sounding respectful!_ "It's taken too long already!"  
"You know you sound disrespectful, do not you?" Jedova said, his voice more even than the girl had expected it to be.  
"Yes, I do, Master," Arya confessed and sighed. "I'm impatient, yes, but I... I just can't sit here and wait all day when you finish your meal slower than a snail!"

The calmness in Jedova's eyes turned into hard disapproval. Arya slapped her hand to her mouth; she had gone way too far now.  
"I... I apologize, Master," the girl whispered and left quickly, making sure she seemed like nothing had happened, but once she was out of the dining hall she started to run. It was easier to just run instead of facing the consequences of blurting out things she had not meant to say. It was just easier to run away and hide.

She did not want it to be like that but she could not help herself. She had just become a Padawan finally and she had already screwed up that badly. She could not believe herself!

Arya rushed to random turbolifts, going down with every lift. Then she found herself from a low level. It was quite dark there, but not so dark that she could not have seen with her eyes. No one else was there.

It was a good place to stay away from everyone and think through her actions without anyone's blaming stare.

Arya ran deeper into the corridors.

At some point, she stopped, panting lightly after the spurt. Even after her breathing became steady, her heart still raced, punching her ribcage. She could not understand how she had let her impatience control what she said aloud. She could not understand how she had made such a simple mistake.

In the dark, cold and long-abandoned corridors, it was easy for anyone to hate themselves. It was even easier to be disappointed. Arya did not remember being even this disappointed in herself, let alone feeling such self-hatred, guilt and fear she now felt. Yet she felt all of that and perhaps even something more.

She knew that it was completely possible that she had just screwed up her only chance to become a Jedi Knight permanently.

Sighing, Arya sat down, leaning to a wall. She could pass the time in the darkness perhaps even indefinitely if she could survive without water and food. No one would find her there. No one usually even came to a level this low at least as far as the Padawan knew.

_All this just because of a lightsaber..._

The silence made it easy to meditate on what had just happened. Arya had been in trouble in the past, she could have never denied that, but this was much worse than all of those incidents combined together.

With all the bustling of the Order far above, Arya found nothing to disturb her and her concentration. On the other hand, the silence also lacked an anchor to pick up from the Force. This time, Arya had to make her own anchor. Usually, she could have done that, but now her own feelings plagued any anchor she would make for herself. They refused to leave her.

Suddenly, the clang of a turbolift came from somewhere nearby in the same level. Arya could hear the door open, then identify the Force signature: it was her Master.  
"Sithspit," Arya hissed, scrambling on her feet. The footsteps were approaching her, calm but certain of the direction they were heading to.

It would be easiest to just wait until the Jedi Master came. It was the easiest course of action, probably the best as well. But did Arya want to make it easy?

The footsteps were growing louder. _Now that Master Jedova has come this far already, would making this a chase make things any worse?_

_No, it would not._ Arya turned on her heels and walked away from her approaching Master. She refused to get help from the Force to help with navigating; it would just highlight her position to Jedova. The pace of the footsteps sped up a bit. Arya picked up something like anger from the silence. The turn of events certainly did not please the Jedi Master.

Frankly, Arya could not blame him.

Slipping around, making as little sound as she could, the Padawan navigated through the corridors randomly. Echoes of the footsteps grew fainter, but suddenly, as Arya got to a crossing, there were two Force signatures of Jedova Wang.

The Jedi Master attempted to trick her with a Force illusion. Luckily, Arya remembered where the first Force signature had been.

But what if the first one had been the illusion and the second one was the real one and just had been cloaked?

It would not matter anyway, Arya mused. If she went to the direction of the illusion, her Master could easily get there to catch her.

Arya rushed to the left, away from both the signatures, hoping that Jedova would not be waiting for her there, cloaking his actual Force signature while giving her two fake ones to run away from – which would be straight right to him.

Another crossing was right ahead, but there was a tall form which resembled Jedova. Arya swore in Veledosian as quietly as she could; she had started to enjoy the adrenaline coming from this chase yet now it seemed to end already.

Attempting to cloak her own Force signature, Arya crept closer. The form's back faced her. There was the possibility of getting past it to the right.

When Arya had gotten to the small square in which the corridors joined, the form turned, revealing it to be Jedova. They stared at each other, waiting for the other's next move.

The Force signatures were getting closer. Footsteps were audible right behind her.

Either of them was the illusion: the Jedova in front of her or the voices and Force signatures behind her.

Arya tested it by dashing to the right. Jedova did not follow her but Arya knew now that she gave her position easily even without the Force; the sound of her footsteps rumbled in the corridors. As a sudden prediction, Arya sensed that Jedova would catch her if she turned right next time. Therefore, she turned left, hearing fast-paced footsteps close to her.

Arya did not dare to look behind herself. The adrenaline was so strong in her veins that she could not help enjoying it and continuing. A chase in a low, dark and deserted level of the Jedi Temple without the danger of dying or getting fatal injuries was exciting in some strange way unsuitable for a Jedi – it suited a mere child more than her.

Arya knew this would be the last time she could ever act like a child. Maybe this would be the last time she would ever even think about it. She knew that Jedi were not supposed to look for excitement, but Arya also knew that she had never been one to follow the rules to the maximum anyway.

Another crossing. Arya ran straight forward, then turned left at the next one.

The first door was open but Arya did not notice it before something rushed to the corridor, right in front of her. Arya stopped and slid on the stone floor, bumping into whatever had come to her way. Hands gripped her shoulders and a familiar voice murmured to her ear, "Now I caught you, my very ill-mannered Padawan."

Arya sighed. The Force signatures disappeared, leaving only the real one there.

Jedova had caught her.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	12. Chapter 12

Arya panted, trying to understand how she had ended up into her Master's arms. The tall man did not move as he waited for the girl to calm down. Once he knew her breathing had evened, he took a small step back to look at his Padawan. Arya looked at the floor.  
"Padawan." Jedova's voice was quiet but stern. Arya did not look up.  
"Arya, look at me," Jedova commanded. Arya crossed her arms over her chest and tensed, as if trying to make herself smaller. Jedova sighed and let go of the girl's left shoulder, releasing his right hand for raising Arya's chin in order to have her eyes meet his. He did not receive any resistance, which allowed him to be gentle in his motion.  
"Now why don't you explain yourself, Padawan?" Jedova cloaked every bit of anger to a calm but cold tone.  
"I-I..." Arya tried to speak up, but everything started to distort. Suddenly, her Master's eyes were not the dark brown human eyes but something that blinded her so that she could not look at him. She struggled away from the grip and heard all the voices distort around her. The floor tilted drastically without a warning and Arya fell.

Arya threw her hands up in front of her to protect her head, vaguely feeling something leave her hand. Then she heard a clang, like something metallic hitting the Temple's floor. Then she fell on her side on the stone floor. She could not see in her disorientation, so she picked a direction to move away to randomly, trying to scramble on her feet to no avail. Her sense of balance had no idea which way was which, not even what was the actual straight _down_. A voice called out but she did not understand the words it said.

Suddenly, strong arms wrapped themselves around Arya's collarbones and pressed her back to something warm, locking her arms to her sides and straightening her so that she was upright. The girl wriggled, trying to get away from the grip.  
"Arya, stop! Calm down, Padawan!" a deep voice called out, but her brains could not register the command. The grip was strong enough to make Arya's attempts to get away completely useless, yet she could not help panicking. Without a warning, the right arm of her captor let go and retreated, although the left arm kept holding her still. Arya felt fingertips press her right temple lightly. Something entered her brains through the Force.  
"Arya, calm down," the voice's command was enforced by the Force. A strong, calming and slightly numbing wave passed through her.

Arya stopped wriggling upon the wave and just whimpered. Her eyesight was slowly sharpening, and she already understood that she was no longer in a corridor even though it was dark. The right arm returned back around her.  
"It's ok, Padawan. I'm right here." While Arya vaguely registered the voice as her Master's voice, she could not fully realize it through her confusion. She tried to say something but all she managed to get out of her mouth was odd, guttural whimpering.  
"Sssshhhhhhhhh," Jedova shushed softly. He held the girl in his embrace with care, sending soothing waves through the Force to calm the girl. He was not sure what had happened; nothing had been out of the ordinary while Arya had been finishing her lightsaber in the very same meditation chamber in which Jedova had both created his purple kyber crystal and finished his newer lightsaber – until the point where the lightsaber had been finished and Arya had had to resurface from the depths of meditation. That was when she had suddenly gotten an abrupt convulsion, like a seizure.

Jedova moved his right arm to take hold of Arya's left hand. The girl gripped his hand lightly when she felt the pressure around it, letting the Jedi Master's thumb caress the back of her hand. The disorientation was slowly leaving but she still could not think. What had happened in her mind was now on a playback, repeating itself swiftly, as if processing itself in a sleep-like state. Jedova waited, but Arya did not react to him or his presence or proximity.

The Jedi Master let go carefully. Arya swayed a bit but otherwise she showed no signs of reaction. Jedova moved right in front of her, quickly glancing at the lightsaber which had been flung from her hands when the seizure had begun.  
"Arya?" Jedova asked and waved his hand in front of the girl's eyes, receiving only a blink. He snapped his fingers only a couple of centimeters from Arya's eyes, this time receiving a start as a response. Suddenly Arya woke into life, gasping. Her left hand jumped to her forehead, as if someone had hit her there.  
"Arya? Do you hear me now?" Jedova asked, his voice calm. Arya blinked rapidly and stared at him, seemingly horrified. The girl did not dare to say anything. Jedova realized suddenly that Arya was afraid of _him_ for a reason he could not figure out.  
"You have been in deep meditation for four days, nonstop. Are you aware of this?" Jedova asked. Arya shook her head. She did not understand what had happened and how she had gotten there from the dark corridor after the chase.  
"Something disturbed your meditation and you came out of it, convulsing violently. Do you have any memories of this occurring?" Jedova asked, articulating every word as clearly as he could.  
"I..." All of a sudden, the abrupt and odd ending in Arya's memories of what had happened seemed to make sense. "I... think something went wrong and... wait... Have I been meditating for four days?"  
"Yes, you have," Jedova told. "I brought you to this meditation chamber, knowing that you wouldn't be disturbed here for a period of time that building a lightsaber takes, and helped you get started. You have been meditating since and I have been guarding this chamber."  
"So... I did not tell you about the visions I got when I attuned the crystal to the Force, right? Or anything after that?" Arya asked.  
"None of that happened," Jedova assured.

Arya processed this information for a while. If it had all been a vision in deep meditation, it meant that she had not said anything rude to her Master in the dining hall or that the chase in that low level of the Temple never happened. When the realization hit her, she buried her face to her palms, sobbing. The sudden relief tore her apart.  
"Arya? Did something happen when you meditated?" Jedova asked. Arya tried to answer but she could not utter any intelligible words through the sobs.  
"It's all right, Padawan. Whatever happened was not real," Jedova comforted. He had no idea what the girl had seen but he could do his best to comfort her. Arya nodded.  
"It just felt so real... I thought that... that I had really... I had really..." she gasped, moving her hands away from her face. She fought against the tears, but she was already losing that battle.  
"Do you want to tell me about what you saw?" Jedova asked softly. It had been a long time since he had been in a situation even slightly similar to this; he found it difficult to find good words.

Arya shook her head, sniffling. Tears were now slowly escaping from her lacrimal ducts.  
"There is nothing wrong in crying, Padawan," Jedova said. "Go on. It's ok."  
"Is it... Would you mind if... if I cried on you, Master?" Arya asked timidly.  
Jedova blinked in surprise. He had not expected that. "No, I would not mind."

Relieved by the answer, Arya moved closer to him, her moves hesitant. Jedova took her to a hug and held her against his chest. Arya broke into tears, wrapping her arms around him. Jedova wanted to say something to comfort her but he still did not find any words. What could he say when he did not know what exactly had upset the girl?  
"No words... Just... just hold me close, Master... please," Arya whispered. Jedova nodded and moved his right hand to stroke the girl's hair. He thought that it would be the best course of action he could take in this rather awkward-feeling situation.

He knew that Arya had matured ever since the time they had met on Kiros but it was clear that the girl had not lost everything she had had as a child; there was still the innocence and the sensitivity of a still developing person, one not yet toughened by all the years of training. Somewhere inside was the vulnerability she tried to hide. The vulnerability Jedova himself was well acquainted with.

He had hidden it himself in Arya's age through all of his apprenticeship, and such a thing had barely ever been a topic of discussion between him and Xurego. Jedova had worked so little with that vulnerability with anyone else than himself that he did not know how he should handle it now that Arya showed her own vulnerability to him. He did not want the girl to feel that she could not trust him with it, but what should he do? What should he say? He did not know.

Arya fell silent and thus shook Jedova from his thoughts. She moved her head to look into Jedova's eyes, meeting his compassionate gaze.  
"Does my closeness alone make you feel better?" Jedova asked.  
"It does. You're so warm," Arya told. "So warm and gentle. You didn't push me away when I needed you."  
Jedova blinked. He had never heard anyone call him "gentle" out of all words. However, now that his own apprentice who actually barely knew him did so, he was touched. "Padawan, why would I ever push anyone, let alone my own apprentice whom I have chosen to train, away when they need me?"

Arya smiled and closed her eyes, feeling Jedova's heartbeat, letting it soothe her. Neither Jedi said anything. They just listened to each other breathe in the silence. Then Jedova asked, "So, you feel better now?"

Arya nodded. Relieved, Jedova let his stroking hand fall to her shoulder. Arya opened her eyes.  
"It's good to know that there is something I can do to comfort you," Jedova said. "It's been ages since anyone has really thrown themselves to my arms to seek comfort. If that actually has ever happened, that is. I'm not used to this at all."  
"There's nothing wrong with that, Master," Arya noted. "For me it's enough that you are here, that you accept me even when I am not as calm as a Jedi is supposed to be."  
"You're still growing, Padawan. Calmness, just like maturity, comes with age and experience. You're at the beginning of the Jedi path. It's a rough path, even if you wouldn't with me but someone... less unfortunate as me, and you will grow during these years. Don't you even dare to waste your youth, though!" Jedova gave a light laugh. "If you do, you will regret it when you're relatively as old as me!"  
"Did you waste your youth, Master?" Arya asked in curiosity without thinking before blurting the question.  
Jedova chuckled at the sudden mortified expression that came to Arya's face. "I do feel that I wasted it at least a bit, even given the circumstances of my training, but since it was so long ago, I think it's useless to keep that regret. I mean, it doesn't bring my youth back or anything!"

Arya giggled and moved herself away from her Master so that she did not need to twist her neck so much to look into her Master's eyes. "Wouldn't it be crazy if it actually did?"  
Jedova nodded, smiling. "I guess it would be indeed. Just imagine if one morning I came out of my room with my body suddenly a couple of decades younger and had it wear out in a few days!"

They both laughed at the image they had in their minds.  
"Thank the Force it's not possible! It would really mess up the Master-Padawan relationships here," Arya said. It took some effort from them both to suppress the laughter. Then Arya's stomach roared hard.  
Jedova chuckled light-heartedly at the girl's embarrassef expression. "Trust me, Padawan, _that_ is something that'll happen a lot even under normal circumstances and not just when you haven't eaten for four days when you've been too busy building your lightsaber. There's no reason to be ashamed of it."

That reminded Arya of what she had seen during the meditation. A shiver from the thought of what had happened because of her unthinking talking in it ran through her back. Jedova felt it there.  
"What is it?" he asked.  
"That meditation," Arya whispered.  
"What happened in it? Or maybe it's better to ask: what upset you in it?"  
"Well... with the rest of what happened in it put aside, I... really said something horrible to you and... it felt so real... Like I had screwed up my only chance to become a Jedi Knight just because of... because of getting my lightsaber finished... Just for one stupid lightsaber," Arya told, her voice still only a whisper. The feelings she had harbored in the vision of the meditation threatened to take over her again.  
"But it did not happen. Besides, even if such a thing ever happened, I doubt it would end everything instantly," Jedova told. "You can let go of it. All harboring it will do is to clog up your mind. Just let it go."  
"It... it is not that easy," Arya said with a trembling voice.  
"I know. It is one thing that will become easy with experience and knowledge. Nevertheless, you already have the ability to let go of it in you," Jedova encouraged her. "Trust me. You can do it."

He locked up his eyes with his Padawan, letting the waves of encouragement pass through their fresh bond.  
"You can do it," he repeated. Arya took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Concentrating on the Force, she reminisced what she had been taught about letting go of the feelings. The anguish from the vision started to flow away. Arya forced herself to not resist it even though it felt like something vital was evaporating and vanishing out of her.

Jedova did not let go of his apprentice's shoulders. He let himself ponder how Arya had already started to trust him with her feelings. Such was not unheard of at all among Masters and their young Padawans, but Jedova had expected Arya to be far more stubborn and withholding with such feelings after fighting against them for so long. Even Degu had not been as open with him as Arya had been, after all, and he had not had to struggle to become a Padawan.

Arya opened up her eyes, sighing in relief. It was much easier to breathe now. The vision seemed far more unreal than it had just a moment ago.  
"Better?" Jedova asked.  
"Better," Arya replied with a smile.  
"I told you, you could do it," Jedova said. Arya's stomach protested the prolonged lack of food again.  
"Now why don't you go to the dining hall to see if they still have some food left for you? It's past 2300 already but there should be something for the nocturnal Jedi and those who just happen to need food at this hour." Jedova patted the blushing girl's shoulder gently.  
"Sure, Master," Arya said. She turned to look towards the door and noticed the lightsaber on the floor.

_Her very own lightsaber._

Jedova followed her frozen gaze. Then he, too, remembered.  
"Of course, if you are not in that big of a hurry, we could check your lightsaber right away to see that it's working properly," he noted. Arya stood up, walked to the lightsaber and picked it up, first inspecting it herself. She had extremely vague memories of fabricating the hilt, so vague memories that it did not matter much whether she remembered it or not. The only value of those memories was that she remembered doing it. As far as she could sense, it seemed to be properly built.

Jedova stood up and walked to her, taking his own look at the lightsaber over Arya's shoulder.  
"Do you believe you made it?" he teased.  
"Yeah... I do believe so, Master," Arya said. She could see the activation button and the adjusting knobs right where she had thought about putting them. However, the button was not red; it was a silver-gray metallic piece with an odd bird-like carving on it. She recognized it as one of the parts of Findio Acheta's lightsaber. It had not been a button on it, though; it had been a mere decoration.

At the same time, the lightsaber felt both unfamiliar but yet so familiar, as if she had used it before. It did not look like anyone else's lightsaber although it obviously had similarities with her Master's own. Its design was unique and completely new to her, but for some reason it felt like she had known of this lightsaber for years.

It was her lightsaber, the one she had always been meant to build and wield. The Force had always intended it for her from the very first breath she had taken on Kiros almost thirteen years ago. The Force had always intended it to become real.

And now it was real. She was holding it in her hands. It was just as real as her Padawan braid.

Very, very real.

"That's a glimpse of what one can do with the help of the Force," Jedova said. Arya nodded, turned to him and handed her lightsaber to him to check. Jedova took it and, with the knowledge he had of lightsabers, looked all around it with both his eyes and the Force, checking seams and other critical spots. Then he returned the lightsaber to Arya and took a few steps back.  
"Go on. Ignite it so that we can see the blade," he said. Arya nodded and gripped her weapon properly; she had modeled the lightsaber so that her grip was different from that of her training lightsaber. It was a fresh start, but she felt her hands adjust to it well – actually better than the training lightsaber, gripping which had always felt awkward and unnatural to her. She pressed the activation button and the blade came to life.

A light-gray blade, lighter than the button which activated it, lighted up its immediate surroundings. It was just like any other lightsaber blade aside from one thing.  
"You know, usually the blade ends straight and does not sharpen there," Jedova noted as he looked at the tip of the blade.  
"It's the 'crystal shard' effect," Arya said. "Lightsaber crystals originating from Veledos are known to have that effect on lightsaber blades. Findio Acheta must've chosen them for his lightsaber just like pretty much all VeledosJedi did."

Jedova hummed in understanding. Arya deactivated her lightsaber and put it to her belt, right where her training saber had been for all these years.

No one could ever question her place in the Jedi Order as a Padawan again.

"Go to eat now. I'll go back to our quarters to sleep," Jedova said as he started to walk towards the door. Arya joined him, knowing that she had not left anything into the chamber. Once they were outside, Jedova said, "Good night, Padawan."  
Arya bowed. "Good night, Master." Then she left to make her way to the dining hall. Jedova headed towards their quarters.

When he had closed the door of his room, he sighed.  
"One can only wonder just what I actually got involved with when I chose Arya," he muttered to himself, remembering the dream he had had in the artisan's workspace. "These will be interesting years for sure."

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	13. Chapter 13

_In the next morning at 0800_

Jedova was surprised to find seemingly grumpy his apprentice at the table of the common room, reading something from her datapad – at least probably she was reading instead of just glaring at it. Arya looked up to him when she saw him enter the room, revealing the dark circles under her eyes. Her expression softened a little, but not enough to change completely.  
"Good morning, Padawan," Jedova greeted.  
"Good morning, Master," Arya replied. There was no annoyance in her voice so Jedova wondered if she looked grumpy just because of her dark circles.  
"How are you?" he asked.  
"My body's rhythm is completely messed up, but otherwise there's nothing I could complain about." Arya made a smile which made her look even creepier than when she seemed to be glaring.  
Jedova reminded himself that he had seen much worse during his life and forced himself to not shudder or look away. He just nodded instead. "Have you meditated yet?"  
"Not in the morning; I figured I could wait until you'd get up so that we could meditate together. I've spent some hours catching up on things since I couldn't sleep for most of the night," Arya told. "I look terrible, don't I?"  
"Now that you ask, those dark circles under your eyes do make you look a scary," Jedova admitted.  
Arya nodded without taking any offense from the honest words. "I thought so."

They walked to the middle of the common room together in a friendly silence and knelt to the floor, opening themselves up to the Force. They were still getting used to each other's presence, but Jedova knew well that what had happened last night had made their bond stronger and most likely also more durable. He knew that there was one thing he had to leave to do alone and, because of that, leave Arya behind to the Temple, but he had to be sure that it would not cause fatal damage to their bond at this early point.

As he meditated on it, he came to the decision to stay for two days, then leave. He hoped that Arya would understand and not make the departure difficult.

With that, he ended his meditation and stood up, leaving Arya to continue. It seemed that the girl needed to take more time this time. Although, the Jedi Master did not blame her; after what had happened in less than a week, it was just appropriate that she took time with meditation. In the meantime, Jedova could drink tea.

Just when the tea was ready, Arya got up from the floor.  
"Do you want tea, Padawan?" Jedova asked. "I should have another cup here, given that Degu hasn't decided to smuggle it out. He became quite fond of it, or so it seemed to me!" He laughed.  
"Well, I've never really drank tea, but I guess I can get used to it." Arya grinned. Jedova could not understand how such an innocent grin could look so malicious to him just because of the dark circles. Ignoring those thoughts, he made his way to the cupboard, finding the cup he had kept just in case he would either have a Padawan who liked to drink tea – or forced themselves to drink it – or should his own cup fall and break. He poured the tea to the two cups, brought them to the table and pushed the other one to Arya.  
"Thanks, Master," the girl thanked. She did not rush with drinking her tea, enjoying it instead – or at least it looked like she enjoyed it.  
"Well? Do you think I can turn you into a tea-drinker?" the Jedi Master asked with a grin.  
"I think you just did. This is much better than the tea in the dining hall," Arya remarked. Jedova burst into laughter. "That is why I have my own stash! The Sencha tea beats whatever excuse of a tea they serve here for everyone, which is essentially both why every Jedi who drinks tea gets their own stashes of a tea of their choice and don't drink in the dining hall, which results in that no one drinks it and thus no one cares about the tea there. It's linked together."  
"Like a circle," Arya said.  
"A circle, yes, one which could be broken if we were forbidden of having our own tea stashes and forced to complain to make a change," Jedova said. "Given that people would neither give up drinking tea nor keep their own stashes in secret."  
"Or go to drink tea outside of the Temple," Arya added.  
"Indeed," Jedova said. Then he chuckled. "Oh Padawan, just imagine if the High Council suddenly decided to ban the personal tea stashes and started to keep a careful eye on the people drinking tea. Quarters being inspected irregularly, the Jedi with enough skills on seeing the future hiding those stashes, and questions about drinking tea when giving the report after a mission."

Arya's amused snort caused her to inhale some of the tea and she started to cough.  
"That would be crazy. But not really good for privacy although it's respected here," she noted after she had stopped coughing. "They couldn't just say they respect privacy and then inspect everyone's quarters just in case someone has gotten their own secret tea stash."  
"It would be hypocritical," Jedova remarked. "They'd have to give up respect for privacy at the risk of scaring non-Jedi, which would not be good for our duty."  
"Then let's be happy that there is no problem about tea here!" Arya giggled.  
"Yes," Jedova sighed. "The world would be even more twisted than it already is if the Jedi High Council had something against the Jedi having drinking whatever tea they happen to buy for themselves."  
"Twisted?" Arya repeated.  
"You can't even imagine what kinds of things one can see in the galaxy." Jedova shook his head. "There are those things I wish I wouldn't have seen. A lot of them..."

For a moment, he stared at his cup silently without his eyes focusing on anything. Arya did not find any words; it seemed to be better to let the suddenly solemn Jedi Master ponder. Then Jedova seemed to remember the surroundings and said, "What would you say if we took a small spar after breakfast? Getting used to your new lightsaber would be useful and I'd like to know a bit better your combat skills."  
"Sure," Arya replied, "as long as you don't beat me up very hard!"  
Jedova smiled and drank the last of his tea. "Don't worry. I'll go easy on you."  
"Thanks, Master," Arya emptied the cup with one gulp and carefully put the cup back to the table.  
_Just how can Padawans do that?_ Jedova wondered as he recalled how quickly Degu had drunk the Vair Shiro drink on Ec Pandis seven years ago. "Shall we go before our stomachs start to complain?"  
Arya smirked at that. "I'm not really hungry, but sure."

_About half an hour later at the dojo_

"Like I said, I'll go easy on you," Jedova said as he raised his lightsaber to a salute, Arya doing the same. As if at the same call sign, they ignited their lightsabers, Jedova making the first move: he dashed at Arya, who took a jump to his side when he was close enough, attempting to strike at his side or back. Jedova twisted himself to block the low-powered blade. Arya waited for her Master to attack again; especially after the lightsaber match with that Besalisk at the Exhibition Day she knew better than to attack an opponent far bigger and stronger than herself straight. She had to use her cunning again.

Jedova stopped and gave her the small sign to come at him. Arya knew that it was a trap but she decided to spring it and see how much strength Jedova was going to use when the lightsaber blades would meet. She took a few steps, keeping her guard up. She knew she would be fully blocked if she ran at him.  
"Well you sure are taking your time," Jedova taunted with a grin.  
"I ran straight at my opponent once with my lightsaber in this position once and got blocked. It hurt," Arya told.  
"Really? What happened?"  
"Let's just say that it was comparable to running at a wall at the same position. Except that it mostly hurt only where the lightsaber happened hit; it left a nice mark on my face." Arya grimaced. Jedova nodded in understanding. Then he took a step forward, waiting for an opening in case Arya was going to choose that moment to attack. They took small, daring steps towards each other with their lightsabers up. Arya noticed that they were circling each other as they came closer and closer.

Then they were at the range. Jedova moved first but Arya reacted quickly. Their mutual silence turned into the crackling of the lightsaber lock. Arya noticed how Jedova tested how much strength her arms could take. It was subtle, almost unnoticeable.

But only almost.

Arya deactivated her lightsaber, ducked under the purple blade and sprung at the Jedi Master. In a fraction of a second, Jedova recalled her using a similar trick against the Besalisk in the Exhibition Day and jumped right where Arya could not swing her reactivated lightsaber to while it was in her left hand.

Jedova knew that by the time she could be back in the range, he had already delivered his own blow to its target – Arya's back, as she went past him – many crucial seconds ago.

It happened in a fleeting second as Arya looked to the direction she was going to: Jedova suddenly disappeared to her right and then she felt the lightsaber burn her back. The one-second disorientation ensured that she fell right on her chest without any possibilities of softening her fall. All the air escaped her lungs at the impact.

All of that had happened in just two or three seconds. As she took air back to her lungs, Jedova deactivated his lightsaber and walked to her.  
"One piece of advice: Never use a similar trick on someone who has seen a variation of it used by you," the Jedi Master said.  
"Yes, Master," Arya croaked and forced herself get up even though she felt dizzy. Jedova took her arm to keep her steady.  
"At least you did not attack or intercept my attacks straight," Jedova noted.  
"I've had enough hands-on experience on the results of doing so to look for a better option that get my lightsaber at my face when I can't block the force my blade meets," Arya said.  
"A more cunning option, that is," Jedova gave a laugh.  
"Strategy and skill are better than brute force. If I was skillful and cunning enough, I could have beaten your strength," Arya noted.  
"Not if I would have used my own skills and strategy to overcome yours," Jedova reminded.  
"That's a different case," Arya said.

"Oi! Arya!" a male voice called the Padawan. Arya turned to look at the source of the shout and saw Qui-Gon near one of the walls of the chamber.  
"If your Master doesn't beat you up too badly, could you have a match with me?" the boy asked. "It seems that you look bad already, so at least from the point of view of appearance any beat-up shouldn't make you look worse!"  
"Sure! I actually needed to hear that, y'know!" Arya shouted back and turned to look at Jedova.  
"I wouldn't mind watching a match between you and someone who is closer to you in skill and size," the man told. "I mean I guess I am a gundark when compared to you!"  
Arya's smile widened and she turned to look back at Qui-Gon, who understood and started to walk to them.  
"Great! I hope you aren't going to beat _me_ up right away!" the boy said.  
"Don't worry, pal. I'll give you a few minutes." Arya smirked.

Jedova walked away to give them space to spar. A Jedi Master with brownish short hair joined him.  
"Master Wang," the man greeted with a calm nod.  
"Master Dooku," Jedova responded.  
"And here I thought you just finished training one Padawan, yet you have already chosen one as... old as Arya Deinden," Dooku said. "I do not mean that she has not shown great potential; I have not gone without noticing how much she showed it, but even after all of that she was not chosen before you decided to do it."  
"There seems to be a few things which make the potential Masters worried, but I am willing to put them aside and help her realize that potential," Jedova noted.

Master Dooku said nothing after that as the two Padawans ignited their lightsabers. Qui-Gon's eyes glimmered in surprise and glee as he saw the gray blade.  
"So that's why you suddenly went into hiding for days after you returned from Bimmisaari!" he said.  
"Yup!" Arya grinned and took the first move; she sprung at Qui-Gon, stopping at the range of the lightsaber. She decided to prod her friend's defense to see if there was a gap she could use. She did not wish to end the spar too soon – she enjoyed sparring with her friends a lot, after all – but she knew it was fairly good strategy at least until her opponent would act and bring her on the defensive.

She picked her places randomly and without any seeming pattern. When she struck towards Qui-Gon's left shoulder – she knew he was right-handed just like he knew she was left-handed – and got blocked, she could suddenly drop her saber down towards his knee but then twist her wrists to go at his back instead as she moved to right. However, on the other hand, Qui-Gon had been training using both of his hands more and his lopsidedness was thus a far lesser weakness than that of Arya, who found herself half-blocking, half-jumping away from the sudden Makashi jabs Qui-Gon had started to make randomly whenever his Master was watching him spar.

A block as a jab came towards the right knee. Arya was about to raise her lightsaber for a retaliation to that bold attempt to hit her, but suddenly Qui-Gon launched himself to the air, doing a somersault over her head, and landed behind her. Arya took a dash away from him as he was in the air and took a fast look around her surroundings, determining where it would be the best to corner her opponent.

She had to admit to herself that it had been some time since the last time she had sparred with Qui-Gon, and she was furious to see that her usual ability to react to the sudden acrobatic Ataru maneuvers Qui-Gon favored in fighting had decreased.

After being proud of that ability which had developed with the time she spent seeing and confronting Qui-Gon's sudden somersaults and other Ataru tricks, especially ones she did not manage to do – yet – seeing it go down was almost as provoking as if Qui-Gon – or whoever she was sparring with, as a matter of fact – had just mocked her.

_No anger, Arya. No anger. It just makes Qui-Gon's job of beating you easier._

Taking a deep breath, Arya went to intercept the approaching Qui-Gon. Their blades locked together, their faces close to them.  
"Master wants me to start using Makashi more. I'm not really interested," Qui-Gon gasped so quietly that no one else than the two Padawans could hear him over the crackle of the lightsaber lock.  
"Well of course not, because you beanpole have to jump all around like the remote I accidentally sent flying all around the room when we were six," Arya noted with the same quiet volume. Now that she was this close to Qui-Gon, she could not help wondering if the boy had grown a few centimeters more during the time she had been in deep meditation; their height difference seemed to increase bit by bit every day.  
"Admit it, it was no accident." Qui-Gon smirked.  
"I'd rather face the Hellfire than admit something like that, even if it wasn't an accident," Arya murmured.  
"With that attitude you will be an amazing Jedi when you grow up," Qui-Gon teased. "Everyone will be amazed by how you still can be as sassy and hell-bent as you were in your adolescence."

He gave a short push against Arya to shake her balance a bit, backed away two steps, then swung his lightsaber towards her side only to be blocked again.  
"Ever wondered where that sass comes from?" Arya inquired.  
"Airka," Qui-Gon said immediately. Arya raised her left eyebrow, as if to prompt him to continue. "And me?"  
"Bingo." Arya grinned and made her move, first away from Qui-Gon, then back to him while slightly curving to his left side. Qui-Gon raised his lightsaber to "impale" the girl if she would not stop soon enough. Such a thing would not have actually happened, though, because the blade was set on such a low power, and they both knew it.

Arya took a sudden Force-aided jump over the blade, earning astonished gaping from Qui-Gon, turned in the air to have her gray blade meet the green blade right before she landed on her feet. Qui-Gon felt the power of the landing in his shoulders through the lightsaber lock. He noticed that Arya's grip was different now; instead of having her right hand's fingers wrapped around her lightsaber clockwise, they suddenly were counterclockwise just like the fingers of her left hand. Arya moved herself to be in front of him, and as the force that came to test his arms got stronger, he realized that Arya was using her lightsaber as lever to lower his lightsaber.

He tried to move his lightsaber away from the gray blade, but it only made Arya's attempts easier to be fulfilled. He knew that if he deactivated his lightsaber, he was as good as dead. He tried to fight against the levering, but he was forced to admit that it only wasted his strength. He could only offer resistance as the blade went towards the floor almost as fast as the sweat drops did.

Arya managed to force Qui-Gon's blade to meet the floor. Then she started to carefully move towards him to give the first and final hit. Then she slipped on the sweat that had dripped from them both onto the floor. That was when Qui-Gon took his chance: he swung his blade at the girl's ankle quickly, risking getting hit first as he gave up his defense.

Arya felt the heat of the blade sting her ankle, so she deactivated her lightsaber. Qui-Gon did the same. Neither of them had noticed earlier how much they were panting. The amount of sweat drops running down their faces surprised them too.

They bowed to each other almost dizzily. The exhaustion was now catching up to them.  
"Nice to get a really good spar first time in a while. Thanks," Arya sighed.  
"Anytime," Qui-Gon said. "You have been improving, haven't you?"  
"Whenever there has been a youngling to beat," Arya quipped with a smirk. Qui-Gon sighed, using whatever was left of his strength to bring a small grin to his face. Then he sensed his Master calling him. He turned to look at Master Dooku and walked over to him. Arya walked to Jedova to hear what the Jedi Master thought about what he had just seen.

Master Dooku started to give a small lecture about the Makashi moves Qui-Gon had used and his Padawan listened, but Jedova did not feel like analyzing everything aloud right away.  
"That last move of yours, when you used your lightsaber as a lever, was a very risky one," he noted to Arya, who just replied breathlessly, "I know."  
"If you ever get into a situation in which you _could_ use it, you need to look for a better, a safer, option."  
"I know. It's just that... I've been... well... bored."  
"Bored?" Jedova's eyebrows shot up in surprise.  
"I stumbled upon that move in the Archives a good while ago and decided to try it out. If I can make it work, it could be a good move," Arya explained. She seemed almost defensive about it.  
"You know, you could have chosen to practice an actual form of lightsaber combat, like Makashi, Soresu or Niman," the Master noted, doing whatever he could to not sound blaming.  
"Back then my Shii-Cho training was still so incomplete that I wasn't allowed anywhere near other forms' classes," Arya told.  
"Well, in that case instead of lightsaber training you could have concentrated on many other things," Jedova noted.  
"It's too late now." Arya shrugged. "It cannot be changed. We can only do what we can to make up for the past mistakes, right?"  
Jedova sighed. "That's true."

He did not notice it before he had already ended, but he started to analyze Arya's actions aloud nevertheless, sharing the tips and knowledge which had been passed on to him during the decades he had been a Jedi. Arya listened intently just like she had when she had been only five years old and he had told stories from his life. Only this time the girl was bigger, far more exhausted and so sweaty that it was almost a miracle that she did not leave sweaty traces in her wake after he dismissed her so that she could get a shower.

As Jedova left the dojo, he met Phayeth. He knew that the High Council was keeping a disturbingly sharp eye on him and Arya.  
"What is it, Phayeth?" he asked. He did not want to start an argument with his best friend, but the Council was snooping on him and his relationship to his newest Padawan was slowly starting to irritate him a bit too much.  
"I was just wondering if you have already chosen the birthday gift for your apprentice. You know she'll be 13 in less than two months," Phayeth noted as if in passing.  
Jedova saw through it. "That is actually why I wanted to find you. I'll leave alone in privacy to get something for her in two days. I don't want to tell her where, but just in case something goes wrong as is the custom, I want you to know that I left on Kiros. I'm going to tell Arya to come looking for you if she doesn't hear anything from me after a week from my departure. That's when you need to worry."  
Phayeth was visibly caught off-guard by this revelation. "Oh, well, that's good." He could not help remarking that his friend's destination was Arya's home planet. "Do you know what you're going to get?"  
"Not yet, but I trust that the Force will guide me to it," Jedova noted. He started to walk past Phayeth, but then he suddenly stopped, put his hand on his tad shorter friend's shoulder and leaned to whisper to his ear. "Oh, and one more thing: I would appreciate if you councilors did not snoop on what's going on between me and Arya. It's quite insulting, and if I happen to hear that you've been questioning Arya while I'm gone, I won't ignore things anymore. I will take a stand. Because as long as there is no big, havoc-causing issue, it is none on your business. Just so you know."

Then he walked away, ignoring the astonished gaze of his friend. He had given his fair warning and he knew that Phayeth would pass his message on to the rest of the High Council.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	14. Chapter 14

_Two days later_

"But Master, where are you going?" Arya asked. "I don't understand. Why can't I come with you?"  
"It's a private mission," Jedova told. "I believe it is for the best for you that you don't come with me."  
"Master, it cannot be that dangerous that I can't come with you!" Arya noted, frustrated.  
"It's not dangerous – I hope," Jedova told. "However, it's a very delicate matter. I'm sure you'd behave, but it's still for the best that I go alone. Trust me, my Padawan. I know what I am doing."  
"But what if something goes wrong? Can't you even tell me where you are going?" Arya asked, trying not to beg.  
"I have taken that possibility into account. Listen to me carefully now." Jedova knelt so that he was on the same eye level as his Padawan.  
"I'm listening, Master," Arya told.  
"I don't think I'll be away for more than a week, but even if I do, even if there is something that starts to hinder me, I will contact you to inform you that I am well and what is taking so long. I will do it through comlink, if possible, but if I cannot use it, I will use the Force to inform you as much as I can. But just in case something goes absolutely wrong – I am kidnapped on the way, for example – I have told Phayeth where I am going. If you hear absolutely nothing from me after a week from this or the last day we were in contact with one another, contact me. If you can't reach me in any way, go to find Phayeth and he'll take it from there. Understood?" Jedova explained.  
"Yes, Master. I understand perfectly," Arya told. "But I still hate the thought of you leaving me behind."  
"I know, Padawan, I know," Jedova said softly and put his hand on her shoulder. "I promise that I'll do anything I can to avoid that. This is an unusual exception, not a rule, to how I operate."  
"I appreciate that, Master," Arya told.  
"Oh... and one more thing." Jedova looked around himself. "If councilors start to ask odd questions while I'm away, like something that you feel is a private matter or at least none their business at all, you don't need to answer. If they get angry because they can't snoop, tell them that I will answer to them when I'm back. Ok?"  
Ara frowned. "Snoop?"  
"I will explain the case in its entirety after I return. But just so you know a bit of what this is about, in my honest opinion as long as there are no enormous issues between us, our Padawan-Master relationship is none of their business," Jedova told. "What do you think?"  
"Well, there is no need for them to intervene or anything, so I agree with you, Master," Arya told.  
"Good." Jedova nodded and straightened himself. "May the Force be with you, Padawan. I'll see you in a week." He gave a laugh. "Given that I actually get lucky and nothing goes wrong."  
Arya grinned. "May the Force be with you, Master."  
"Concentrate on your studies."  
"Of course I will. There's no need to remind me."  
"That's good. I'll be going then."

Jedova turned his back on her and walked to the small starfighter, hopping to its cockpit. He took the last look at the stone-faced Arya and nodded to her. Then the canopy slid over the cockpit and Jedova started the starfighter's engines. A brief moment later, he sped out of the hangar and off to space.  
"Well, back to lessons then," Arya told herself. "At least I have my Padawan braid to prove that I am a Padawan."

When she turned to walk away, she noticed Phayeth Chaa staring at her from a distance. When their eyes met, Master Chaa turned to look to the direction Jedova had gone to. The taller Jedi Master's words about answering to the councilors' odd questions ran in Arya's head and she could not help but wonder what was going on around her among the high-ranked Jedi.

Pushing the pondering aside, Arya rushed away; it was better not to be late from the lessons.

_A few hours later near the orbit of Kiros, Expansion Region_

Jedova exited the hyperspace, then maneuvered to the orbit. There was only the artisan colony and the control of the air traffic in the orbit was as little as was the amount of spacecraft. Besides, he had come to the opposite side of the planet where only the Lianoros tribe lived. Jedova did not remember the exact area anymore, but he knew he could take a tour in the atmosphere to see where he should land.

The Jedi Master could not help enjoying the beautiful scenery which opened up to him from the air. He had not seen it ever since being shot down there seven years ago and back then he had not had any time to enjoy the view. Descending, he found the village as he flew over it. Sudden spike of horror came from there through the Force; the Lianorosians were obviously scared of seeing a ship going right over their heads. Jedova decided to land a fair distance away from the village and walk there in peace.

"Seer! SEER!" shrieks almost made the walls of the temple shudder. Seer Ni'Dea awoke from her meditation, having sensed the familiar presence of a Jedi Master from years ago. She walked out to see the chaos of frightened tribespeople.  
"Calm down!" she called out. "Do you not sense the familiar Force signature of the Jedi Master who visited our village seven years ago?"  
"That Jedi who took Arizana from us?" the voice belonged to Miriel, a girl who used to be a friend of Arya's.

Before Ni'Dea got to answer, Arak and Tureq rushed to her, just as she had hoped that they would.  
"Is it Jedova Wang?" Tureq asked.  
"Arya is not with him, is she?" Arak asked.  
"Yes, it is Jedova Wang, and yes, Arya is not with him," the Seer answered. "You two will come with me to meet him. Get the brekos so that we can get to him faster and see what's up and, if needed, send him away right away."  
"Yes, Seer!" the two men replied in unison and ran to the stable to get three brekos.

Seer Ni'Dea had not said it aloud, but the deeper meaning within the Force that carried those words told them to not take a breko for the Jedi Master. As she waited for her nephews to return, she gazed to the horizon, observing the human's Force signature. The two men returned from the stable with spears in their free hands, to which Ni'Dea said, "We are in no rush nor do we have a need for weapons. Master Wang has not come with bad intentions."

Arak and Tureq left to put their spears back before they returned and mounted their brekos. Many tribesmen and tribeswomen gathered near them in fear, watching how the Seer left the village with her two surviving nephews. All they could ask each other was _"Will the Jedi take another child away from us?"_

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	15. Chapter 15

Jedova hopped off the starfighter, looked at the small village in the horizon and started to walk towards it. It was a good distance away, but he knew it was for the best to give the tribespeople time to recover from their shock. After all, he was not an invited guest.

Besides, he did not mind the walk. The untouched valleys of Kiros were one of his favorite places in the galaxy. Ragoon VI was more beautiful, but it had its dangerous predators. Kiros was more peaceful and thus allowed more time for just enjoying the scenery instead of staying on guard to stay alive.

Suddenly, Jedova could not help wondering if the people of Lianoros took this scenery for granted and how Arya would react when she would return there to get training on using the Water element. Would she appreciate this scenery after possibly seeing far worse places to live in, feel nostalgic, or feel indifferent for some reason?

Jedova knew that he would see that when the day of Arya's return would come.

Then he noticed three tall forms approaching him, riding some sort of mounts. _Lianorosians_, he sensed. He was positive that he sensed the Seer among them, but he was not sure about the other two. If the Seer was one of them, then those two other Lianorosians had to be bodyguards of some sort, the Jedi Master figured. He kept walking towards them, stopping only when they were about ten meters away from him. From that distance, he could easily identify the mounts as brekos and that in the middle was indeed the Tribe Seer. He was not sure if the red-haired man on her left side was Arak, Arya's eldest brother, although he was certain that he did not recognize the sand-haired Veledosian man on the Seer's right.

The three Veledosians stopped when they were three meters away from him. Jedova reminisced the Veledosian gesture of peace and decided to try to mimic it. He showed his lightsaber and held his hands up in the air.  
"I come in peace," he told, hoping that it would be enough if his gesture failed.

He was surprised to see the Lianorosians respond to it with the same gesture. That was when Jedova realized that none of them had any weapons with them.  
"Why have you come to us, Jedova Wang?" Seer Ni'Dea asked. Her tone was calm and cool. Jedova knew he did not remember the woman too well at all, but he believed that she sounded far more authoritative now. Whether it was because of formality or not wanting him to be there, Jedova had no idea. Maybe it was just because she had not spoken Basic in a good while.  
"I have come to inform you about Arya's current situation," Jedova told, keeping his tone serene.  
"Arya?" the man who looked like Arak asked.  
"How is she? Is she ok?" asked the other man. Jedova started to suspect that he was actually Tureq, Arya's younger elder brother.  
"She is..." Jedova started.  
"Has she been chosen by someone?" the both men asked. Jedova was now absolutely sure that they were Arya's brothers.  
"I cannot tell you if you don't let me speak," he remarked. The two men startled a bit and muttered their apologies.  
"Arya is doing well. You have nothing to worry about her well-being. And, to the question about her being chosen, yes. I decided to choose Arya as my Padawan learner recently," Jedova told and looked at the Seer. "Shall we talk here or will you allow me to come to your village?"  
The brothers looked at the Seer.  
"Come with us," Ni'Dea said and turned her breko, her nephews following her example.

Jedova walked by Arak's side, trying to answer the questions the two men were bombarding him with. Sometimes the chatter was constant and seamless, and he did not a chance to say anything. He let that be; it was certain that all those questions had been bottled up inside the two men for a long time. Once the brothers fell quiet and Jedova had filled them in with the little information he could provide about Arya's time in the Jedi Order, he asked them, "How has the life been in your village?"  
"After the shock passed by and everyone got used to Arya's absence, it has been the same old," the Seer told. "Days come, days go. We live our lives here where our ancestors decided to settle after they had to leave their homes. They chose the place well. We have no need to move away because of infertility of the soil or anything else."  
"I take it that you have not been interacting with outsiders after I left?" Jedova asked.  
"No. No one happens to end up here. Crash-landings like what brought you to us in the first place occur in our proximity rarely, so we don't have anyone to interact with than each other," Ni'Dea told.  
"Why isn't Arya with you now?" Arak asked Jedova.  
"I decided that it was for the best that I'd come here alone to see how things are going here. Also, since she is turning 13, an important age for a Padawan, soon, I decided to come here to look for a birthday gift for her. You know Veledosian customs far better than I do and I believed that you could have an idea," Jedova told. "I don't want to choose something usual which she could guess beforehand."  
"Oh, I believe that we can all think of something, Tureq and Arak especially," Ni'Dea said and looked at the two tribesmen on her sides.  
"What about Gamu?" Jedova asked, recalling the younger brother, who had been sick back when he had been at the village.

No one said anything. Jedova hesitated.  
"I..." he started.  
"Gamu died soon after we left to escort you and Arya to the capital," Tureq told and turned to look at the tall Jedi. "He didn't make it through the steppe fever."  
"Oh," Jedova said. "I'm sorry to hear that."

None of the Lianorosians said anything. The village was now close.  
"Welcome back to our place, Jedova Wang," Seer Ni'Dea said formally. "I really don't know whether or not I wish you to stay long."  
"I hope to bother you for as little time as possible," Jedova replied. "Arya is waiting for me to return to the Jedi Temple."

Tribespeople shouted in shock as they saw the Jedi Master walking alongside the riding Lianorosians. People rushed away, yelling things Jedova could not understand; he only sensed the shock and fright. The tribe was still afraid of outsiders, it seemed.

_What will it be like when I return here with Arya?_ the Jedi Master wondered. _Will they be afraid of her just like they're afraid of me?_

At the border of the village, Ni'Dea, Arak and Tureq dismounted their brekos. The Seer said something to the villagers who were still there in Veledosian, and Jedova suspected it was about his stay there since he heard his name mentioned. Then the Seer turned to say something to the Deinden brothers. As the duo took the brekos and left, Ni'Dea turned to talk to Jedova, "I'd like to talk with you about Arya at the temple. Are you fine with that?"  
"Of course I am," Jedova answered.  
"Then follow me."

Jedova followed the shortish Seer, sometimes glancing around himself only to see any tribespeople he'd notice hide themselves behind something convenient in fear.  
"Why does everyone still fear me like this?" he wondered aloud, not actually believing that the Seer had an answer.  
"They fear of the unknown. And just in case you haven't noticed, you are taller than any of us, even Arak, who is ridiculously tall by our standards. You come from Ancients know where, you have skills and weapons we can't guess. You could do horrible damage, maybe destroy us all. That's what they're most afraid of: oblivion," the Seer told.  
"Destroy everything?" Jedova repeated in horror. "Destruction is not the Jedi way, has never been. And I follow what I've been taught in the Order by my elders."  
"I believe you, Master Wang, but when you live all your life without interacting with anyone else than your own people, your own way of life, you can't tell anything about outsiders but the risk they might possess towards your life and your community."  
"Don't my intentions show in the Force?"  
"They do, but you are just as inscrutable as any of us, perhaps even more with the powers you possess. The intentions you show may be true, but they may also be a pretense, or we might interpret your presence in the Force in a wrong way. There's no other way to determine which of the possibilities is the correct one than take the risk of getting killed."

Jedova did understand this. Suddenly, as yet another tribeswoman ducked to the safety of her home when he looked at her, he understood this behavior. It made sense as he looked around himself, seeing only modest, simple buildings. Even the temple had been built of clay of some sort along with the rest of the buildings. Destroying the village and its people would not take much effort from any off-worlder with proper weaponry. In theory, a single lightsaber in the hands of a darksider could be enough.

Jedova followed the Seer inside the temple, marveling the hinges of the door. He rarely saw them used anywhere as they had been vastly replaced by hydraulic systems in the places he usually went to, so he took them for granted and could not help being surprised every time he found a hinge in a place in which he usually could find only other, more advanced mechanisms.

It was rather dark in the corridor of the temple, but he still could see well in there. They went into a big room with wall paintings everywhere the Jedi Master looked and many items he could not identify in the front. Everything there was both strange and very intriguing to him and so he could not help feeling curiosity raise its head inside him. In fact, it took a lot of self-control to not ask things like a youngling.

The Seer cleared her throat, discreetly asking for his attention.  
Jedova turned to look at her. "What do you want to know? I can't tell much aside from the two weeks Arya has been my apprentice."  
"You already told quite a lot, but I'd like to know how she has adjusted to things out there. And I can't help but wonder why no one else has chosen her all this time," Ni'Dea told.  
"I believe she has adjusted well to the change. I wasn't there to watch how she started to fare when she was placed to study with other younglings her age in Boma clan, but the clan caretaker told me that she did very well during all of her time as a Jedi Initiate. However, the latter matter is a rather difficult case."  
"You seem to know about it, so please enlighten me, Master Jedi."  
"Arya got through the Initiate trials at the age of ten, and after that she was eligible for being chosen as a Padawan, but those Jedi who were interested in taking her as their apprentice were either worried about her connections here or her temperament. Since my previous apprentice, Degu Odg, was knighted about six months ago, I could take Arya on as my apprentice now that I met her again."  
"I was actually expecting to hear that. I guess we Veledosians have never been the favorite in the galaxy."  
The bitter words made Jedova rise on the defensive. "I believe Arya's case is an individual one. Since she is the only Veledosian in the Order at the moment, no one has anything to compare her to, so they have to go by standards of their own rather than which would suit Veledosians."  
"Let it be. You chose her and that's enough. When are you going to tell her that you came here?"  
"On her birthday, I believe, given that you have something to do with my choice of the birthday gift."  
"And if not?"  
"Either then or after that, when she is ready to come here. For the time being, I believe it would be for the best to secure her position in the eyes of... well, everyone. Especially the High Council. They don't seem to trust that Arya's tutelage with me will last for long. Or at least that's the feeling I have gotten."  
"So after her 13th birthday in any case." Ni'Dea's voice was indifferent.  
"Yes. Do you prefer any time when I should bring her here to train?"  
"Any time is fine with me as long as she is ready for it. It does not matter whether or not we know when you're coming; you'll startle the tribe anyways."  
"I see. How can I know when she is ready?"  
"Trust _her_ judgement on that with respect. It's not her readiness for the training which worries me. It's her readiness for returning here. Many things have changed, and she may find that those who used to be her friends don't seem to even remember, let alone recognize her. This must have become an alien place for her during her time in the far greater world than that of our tribe."  
"I see."

Ni'Dea kept prodding him with questions about Arya and how she was getting along with others, especially Jedova himself, and Jedova did his best to answer with the limited knowledge he had. For some reason, when such questions were asked by Arya's aunt who had not seen her for many years, they did not feel as odd as when asked by a Jedi high councilor. It just made more sense that the Tribe Seer, who would be responsible for a part of Arya's training, wanted to know how her niece was doing so far away from what had been her home once.

At some point, someone knocked the doorframe. Tureq and Arak were there.  
"Excuse the intrusion," Tureq said. "Arak here just wanted to know what kind of a gift you were looking for, Master Wang."  
"I have lots of ideas, but I believe you have certain standards," Arak noted.  
"It has to be something small. It'd be for the best if it was something so small that she could carry it with her. Something that would remind her of where she came from, maybe. Or I don't know. Just something small. Practicality would be a great addition to it but not necessary," Jedova told. "I have absolutely no idea of what I'd be looking for."  
"Small. Preferably pocket-sized, maybe practical. Ok, thanks!" Arak said. After that, he disappeared to the corridor. Tureq stayed just enough enough to bow to them before following his brother.  
"I do have ideas of my own, but Tureq and Arak know Arya better and may have better ideas than I do. They're her brothers, after all," Ni'Dea said.  
"What ideas do you have?" Jedova asked.  
"Something about Veledosian myths and legends or our traditions. Of course, the size limit makes things much more difficult," Ni'Dea said and gestured around herself.  
"So, these items are about your mythology?" Jedova asked.  
"They are all about our mythology, traditions, ways of habit, culture. Some I need for rituals or sermons, some are for storytelling, some are preserved artifacts from Veledos, but all of them are about our people, about our culture," Ni'Dea told.  
"I see," Jedova said quietly. He could not help but marvel the amazing work of handicraft he saw all around himself. _Any Jedi artisan would love to see these._ "I wish I knew something more than just a tiny fraction about all this."  
"I'm sure you will learn quite a lot from Arya if you let her talk and listen to her." Ni'Dea's smile was foxy. "In the meantime, let us handle 'all this'."

About an hour later, Jedova left the temple. The sun was setting and Ni'Dea had assumed the authority to invite the Jedi Master over to her brother-in-law's house.  
"I just have to warn you that Regemo is not what he used to be," Ni'Dea told before she knocked the door and opened it.  
"Hey, aunt, you decided to take Master Wang to stay here?" Arak called out from the other side of the main room.  
"If you don't mind," the Seer said and looked around the small kitchen, where what remained of the Deinden family was.  
"Why should we?" Regemo asked, visibly depressed. "We've had that one room for spare for seven years already."

Jedova swallowed and tried to ignore the feeling of intruding the life of his Padawan's family. He could not help but feel like he was the most unwelcome intruder in the whole sector. After they settled at the table for dinner, Tureq and Arak filling the space in with useless chatter.

Then they started to talk business.  
"So, Master Wang, we gave some thought for ideas for the birthday gift for Arya," Tureq said.  
"We have a couple of ideas," Arak continued.  
"I would appreciate if my idea of having some of our culture in it fits in there," Ni'Dea noted suddenly.  
"Actually, it does," Arak said and put a small, gray marble on the table. "Remember this?" He pushed a button and the marble formed into a coiled snake-like being with wings. "Arya loved these. And since the lore of the Ancients was her favorite, we figured that maybe we could put them all together. I'm sure my mentor, Ta'koa, can help with that."  
"And I have enough skills at engraving, so I can do that part," Tureq told.

Jedova blinked and tried to find words. This was certainly a complex work of fine artisanry that would require a lot of work. "I can't ask you to do all of that."  
"Nah, you are not asking us to do that," Arak noted.  
"_We_ are asking _you_ if our idea is eligible so that we can turn it into reality because we want to do that!" Tureq continued.  
"Well, only if there is something I can do for it. It would not be right if I let you do all the work," Jedova told, trying to find a balance between calmness and visible discomfort. "I believe you don't use credits as a currency for payment, right?"

The brothers looked at each other, surprised. Then they started to laugh.  
"Well no! We make arrangements and agreements here about the payment!" Tureq noted.  
"I'm sure we can agree on something, though," Arak noted. "But hey, does this mean this will be it?"  
"I guess so," Jedova said.  
"All right. Let's see about this all tomorrow morning, decide what can be your payment and make this beauty a reality. You ok with that, Master Wang?" Tureq said.  
"I am," Jedova told.  
"It's settled then," Tureq said and gave his big brother a high five. Then they all concentrated on eating, the brothers still filling the silence with chatter. Jedova felt awkward; as Regemo and Ni'Dea stayed silent, he could not help feeling being unwelcome.

_Later in the evening_

"Good night then!" Tureq said and closed the door. Jedova went to the window and sat down to look through it. Finally, he had a moment of peace. He could contact Arya now and hope that it was not night on Coruscant yet.  
"Arya Deinden here," the girl's voice sounded through the comlink.  
"I hope I didn't wake you up, Padawan," Jedova said.  
"Master? Oh, no, I had just finished my evening meditation. Is everything all right?"  
"Yes. I have arrived at my destination and things are going well so far. I just wanted to tell you that so that you don't need to worry," Jedova told.  
"That's great to hear!" Arya' voice was sincerely delighted. "What's up out there, wherever you are?"  
"Some important things. I will tell you when the time is right, I promise," Jedova said.  
"Alright. I'll hold onto that promise, Master," Arya noted.  
"How are things going in the Jedi Temple?"  
"My classes were ok. I am a bit behind because of my old timetable, but I can, and will, catch up with the others. I'm discussing about the timetable arrangements with my teachers during the week until we get things into an order. I see that you had already went on and given me some help on that matter before you left."  
"Ah, yes. I did some explaining on your behalf while you were busy after finishing your lightsaber. I left the actual arrangements to you since you know your studying style better than I do."  
"I appreciate that, Master. Thanks."  
"You're welcome, my Padawan." Jedova wished Arya could have seen his smile. "I will go to sleep now. Good night."  
"Good night, Master." That was the last thing Jedova heard before he shut his comlink and got up from the floor. He walked to the dusty bed which had been made for him – Tureq had been the only one who had dared to come to the room. He said that this had been the shared room of Arya and Gamu and that no one felt like going in there. Jedova sat down and took a look around the room. There were small objects, some toys, left on random places on the floor, all of them untouched.

Jedova felt sad to see it all, and partly responsible for this situation. He had been the one who had taken Arya away from the village although it had been on the persuasion of the Tribe Seer. That was a bad excuse, though; _he_ had been the one who had agreed to take Arya away. Lying down, he tried to find a comfortable position on bed that was too small for him; every single turn made dust come up, every time he adjusted his head on the pillow the dust came to his nose and mouth. It was hard not to gag at the taste of it, but even harder was not to sneeze.

He sought the peace of the Force so that he could fall asleep. Trying to ignore the flickers of old grief that were all around him in the Force like stains, he slowly found his way to an uneasy sleep as the village became quieter than the gardens of the Jedi Temple.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	16. Chapter 16

_Very early in the next morning_

With a gasp, Jedova woke up as his back suddenly met the floor, the back of his head following. He had fallen off the bed during the most disturbing of his dreams. While pain jolted all around him, he let his breathing become steady slowly before he even thought about getting up from the cool, dust-covered floor.

It had been a very long time since he had seen a dream in which either of his former Masters, Xurego Odyrogo and Thrion Aslas, had been in. Now they had both been there, rejecting him, and they had not been the only ones there. He did not understand where his subconscious ever ripped such things off. Jedova chalked it up to all the things he had been through, all the horrors he had seen and faced. His subconscious had a plethora of dreadful footage to be used for all the nightmares he could not nor even wanted to imagine.

After the pain had faded away, Jedova started to sit up slowly. It was no use to upset his balance after waking up directly from a deep sleep. He took his time to get up on his feet, brushing the dust away from his clothes. Then he looked out of the window. The sun was rising. _Would it hurt if I went outside to meditate?_ the Jedi Master wondered, thinking of the frightened tribespeople. No one seemed to be awake, though, so he believed that he could go out without disturbing anyone.

Jedova tiptoed out of the house, careful not to make any sounds as he opened and closed the doors. No one saw as he came out. Even with his physique the Jedi training at being perfectly voiceless and unnoticeable had been effective, and after months of training after he had stopped growing Jedova had become stealthy.

The cool air of the morning was refreshing. The Jedi Master took deep breaths, allowing the current of fresh air clean his lungs from the dust which still remained in there.

After breathing Jedova took the shortest way out of the village, settling to its outskirts to meditate on the dew-covered grass, facing the sunrise. A luxury he very rarely had, he put his bare feet on grass, enjoying the feeling he did not dare to seek in the gardens of the Jedi temple.

_If I ever retire, I'd love to spend my days of old age like this..._ Jedova sighed. "Let's just hope I will live old and decide to retire..."  
"Who do you speak to?" a female voice asked with a rough accent, its tone stingy. Jedova startled and turned to look at the Lianorosian woman who was glaring at him.  
"Just to myself. I... did not realize I was not alone," he answered. The woman glared at him for a moment more, then she came to sit down next to him.  
"The Seer said that the only way for us to stop fearing you is to interact with you," she said, looking at the horizon. Jedova nodded.  
"I do not know much about your way of life, so I trust your Tribe Seer's judgement. But I'd love to learn more about all this," he told and wrapped his arms loosely around his knees. "It must be peaceful here, with none of the issues of the galaxy hanging over your head."  
"Peaceful?" the woman repeated, seemingly surprised.  
"That I think of this scenery," Jedova told, "peaceful. No horrors caused by horrible people to be seen."  
"I take it that you have seen them," the woman remarked.  
"Too much of them," Jedova told. "I must be under a curse or something."  
"What about Arya? Has she seen such things?"  
"Not really, I think. Not yet. But all of that, slavery, crimes, murders, massacres, torture, everything that's wrong with this galaxy... as Arya continues her training as a Jedi, she will see and face those things," Jedova told with remorse. Nevertheless, he wanted to be honest.  
"Must be dangerous, being a Jedi," the woman mused.  
"Sometimes only, under normal circumstances. Or very often, if the Jedi is either me or usually with me. Or if one chooses to go to hazardous places. There are the spots for those maniacs and skilled individuals too."  
The woman chuckled at the quip. "I remember the old fairy tales about Jedi, those which the Seers tell to children. I think we all believed the existence of your Order, but I think none of us actually admitted that before you ended up here. But I don't know if taking Arya there was a good idea."  
"I have been wondering about it myself for the last weeks quite a lot. When I found out that she was still without a Master, when we have been trying to get used to each other, when I see the rather discreet signs of that I am not welcome at all here." Jedova turned to look at the woman. "I guess that is just natural since, to your community, I am pretty much just a stranger who took one of your children away."

The woman stared into his eyes.  
"Do you think you'd want to live here as one of us?" she asked. Jedova blinked in surprise.  
"I really don't know. I've been a Jedi literally all my life. How could I choose a new way of life?" the man wondered and looked into the horizon. "If I could decide, maybe if I retire during my old days I'd look for a small place like this to live in for the rest of my life. But such utter isolation from the galaxy like here?" He turned to look at the Lianorosian. "Maybe not. I want to know what's going on outside my place, so that I could go and help if I thought that I could do something."  
"You have lived a life of going around the galaxy. You cannot let go of such a thing, can you?"  
"Maybe not. Maybe I will never even retire. In fact, maybe I will never live to my old age. Maybe I get killed before that. I'm just 54, after all."  
"54?" the woman repeated in pure astonishment. "Oh yes, humans. It was as if I was talking to an age mate of mine, someone who has lived for almost 200 years. Or maybe someone who is some decades my senior."

The corners of Jedova's mouth twitched.  
"Oh dear lord, I'd be copletely retired if I was that old," he mused, his attempt to keep his laughter inside altering his tone into something odd. "Well, I'd still be quite puny when compared to the 800-year-old Grand Master of the Jedi Order."  
"800 years old? That is older than what our people can reach without lots of manipulation of their biology."  
"It may be just me, but 54 years is already a long time in this galaxy, let alone as a Jedi. 800 years sounds like an impossible amount of time. Oh well, Master Yoda, the Grand Master, sure has seen a lot of change in both the Order and the Republic during his time. Generations have come and left, passing along their knowledge to the future generations."  
"It's part of life. There is life, then there is death."  
"Indeed."

They did not say anything for a while. They just sat there in silence, watching the sun rise slowly.  
"Quarmath! Etitchia nia!" a man's voice called out. The woman turned quickly to look at the source while Jedova reacted to it more slowly because of his light meditation.  
"I need to go. See you around, Master Jedi," the woman said, got up and walked away to the man who had called her. Jedova watched from a distance as the frantic man said something to the woman, who just responded calmly. He did not understand Veledosian, but he made an educated guess about the topic.

Ignoring it – what else could he have done about it at this point anyways? – he returned back to his meditation, certain that the brothers of the Deinden family would not wake up anytime soon.

However, the man raised a loud hullabaloo. It woke up the residents of the nearest houses. Jedova sighed and leaned his forehead to his knees for a moment, trying to collect the pieces of his shattering patience together, as more Lianorosians came up to join the uproar.

_What was I even thinking when I decided to come out to meditate here?"_

After some time Jedova sensed the Seer coming along with the Deindens. The Tribe Seer started to yell something to silence the tribespeople, and then she most likely demanded for an explanation.

After some talk the crowd, Ni'Dea came to Jedova.  
"I only came here for meditation." Jedova could not help becoming defensive.  
"I understand that. But Ta'koa freaked out due to seeing Quarmath with you."  
"That woman? She came to talk with me. We just talked, that's all." _So that man is the teacher of Arak__._ Jedova recalled hearing the name. _This isn't the best way to begin..._  
"So we heard," the Seer noted. "But you should not wander around on your own."

The sudden urge of anger rose inside Jedova. He suffocated it, then turned to look at the Seer and calmly asked, "Which scenario are you more concerned about: me causing damage to your tribe or vice versa?"

The Seer's eyes narrowed. She was not pleased about the questioning from the outsider.  
"Listen, I can see that you try to control me. There is no need for that. Just tell me what is inappropriate to you and I'll avoid doing that," Jedova told, keeping his tone calm. Getting angry and showing it would not do any good in this delicate situation.

Tureq and Arak came there, carefully approaching the situation.  
"Hey, Master Wang, I talked with Ta'koa and he is willing to help with Arya's birthday gift," Arak told. Jedova smiled to them in delight._ At least something was going right, then._  
"I believe you want to discuss about the payment for this all," Tureq noted before Jedova could voice his thoughts.  
"Yes, that would be great," the Jedi Master said.  
"Let us talk business then," Arak said enthusiastically, slapping his hands together and sat down next to Jedova. Tureq went next to him, ensuring better chances at negotiating with his elder brother. They knew this would be a good chance to get rid of some of their family's debts. Ni'Dea shrugged and walked away.  
"What can you do? And which is the time you have to be here?" Arak asked.  
"I really don't know what you can demand, but anything to which I have enough skills. And when it comes to time, I'd like to be here for as short amount of time as possible. I cannot be away from Arya for too long," Jedova told.  
"Well do you have any skills on doing work as blacksmith, artisan and farming?" Arak asked.  
"Some housework things maybe?" Tureq added.

Jedova blinked in astonishment. This was the point when he finally realized that he had walked into a figurative swamp in a world he did not know.  
"Not really at any of those," he ventured carefully. The brothers took a look at each other, then briefly discussed something. Then they turned back to the human.  
"Not artisan works then. We can ask around to see what you could do," Arak noted. "Are you ok with that?"  
"Yes," Jedova answered. He felt suspicions about it all, but he could not back down anymore. He had to assure himself that he had been through worse things during his career as a Jedi.

This was the unstable and hazardous way _he_ had chosen. He had to suffer the consequences and walk through it all.  
"Shall we meet at noon at the temple?" Arak asked. "I'm sure we have found something by then."  
"I'm fine with that," Jedova told.  
"See you there then," Arak noted. Then he left with Tureq, the younger Veledosian saying something in their native language. Jedova did not know what they were saying. He could only guess and hope.

There was no backing down anymore.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	17. Chapter 17

_A few hours later, Coruscant, Core Worlds_

Arya reread the notes. She had fallen well behind in everything. Politics had never been her favorite, let alone the strongest, subject in her time table, but she had to pass this course. Then she would have a nice, long break from it in order to concentrate on the courses which involve using the Force and other courses she was interested in.

She noticed a form far taller than her join her as she walked. She took a quick discreet look at the Jedi; it was Master Chaa.  
"Master Chaa," Arya acknowledged with a nod. She did not take her eyes off her notes. The Force helped her notice anyone she was going to bump into.  
"It is good to see you, Padawan Deinden," Master Chaa noted, emphasizing "_Padawan_". "How are your studies?"  
"I got behind when my apprenticeship began, so I have some catching up to do, but otherwise very well. Why are you asking?"  
"Just out of curiosity. I hope you're getting along with your Master." Phayeth considered his words for a moment before saying them. "Jedova Wang can be a rather difficult Master to study under."  
"I cannot fathom why a councilor could be so interested in someone else's business," Arya muttered just loud enough for Phayeth to hear it but quiet enough to seem like she was talking to herself.  
"Excuse me? What do you mean by that?" Master Chaa asked.  
"Before his departure, Master Wang warned me about councilors snooping on our business," Arya answered. "I am starting to understand what he was talking about now. Yet there is one thing I don't understand."  
"What is it, then?"  
"Why are you councilors so interested in our business? It is because Master Wang did not think about the 'issues' which kept everyone else from choosing me as their Padawan learner, or what's the reason? Surely as long as there are no issues, the relationship between a Master and a Padawan is not much of anyone else's business."  
"That is Jedova talking, isn't it?"  
"I agree with him, so it could be either of us or anyone else who thinks this way or has said it aloud," Arya noted; she was getting on defensive. Now she turned to look up to the Jedi Master. "All the time I've been here I have been taught that the Jedi value privacy. Isn't this correct?"  
"Yes, it is." Phayeth frowned. He had a feeling that he was going to have a hard time in this conversation.  
"Then why poke into the business of new teams?" Arya asked. She had been taught to question everything, and she was going to throw everything of it at the councilor to see what would happen.  
"Maybe offer them guidance. Wouldn't it be a good thing?" Master Chaa seemed to have noticed what she was doing.  
"Do you think that a Jedi Master, who has decades of experience on training Padawans, needs guidance?"  
"It's the misfit Padawan who needs guidance."  
"Is this 'misfit Padawan' you're talking about really too much to the Jedi Master who chose them to handle and guide by themselves?" Arya asked. She had a feeling that by "misfit Padawan" the Jedi Master was referring to her. She did not show it.  
"Maybe they are. Or maybe there are reasons that make this Jedi Master unable to notice these faults," Master Chaa noted and ventured on, "Maybe like the potential the Master sees in the Padawan or gratitude for something the Padawan may have done for them in the past. Maybe even a life debt or something like that."

Arya stopped. She had been ignored and rejected enough to start to have things twist into something negative in her mind automatically. However, there were subtle ways of showing negative opinions and after getting more practice on that than she would like to admit, she had started to notice them.  
"Just say it aloud, straight and honest, Master Chaa. The misfit Padawan you are talking about is me and you don't think that Jedova Wang, who has trained Padawans before I was even born, can handle me," she said.  
"What makes you think of that?" Master Chaa asked, seemingly surprised. He had stopped as well to look at the girl.  
"Here, in the Jedi Temple, there aren't any situations in which a Jedi Master's life could be truly threatened yet a youngling could save them. So why would you mention a life debt?" Arya asked.

Phayeth took a deep breath through his nose. He had underestimated the girl's thinking. He had also talked too much.  
"Why would I be so difficult that a Jedi Knight or Master could not train me? What would it help?" Arya asked. "I'd only ruin my possibilities on becoming a Jedi. This is a path I _chose_. Why would I want to ruin my chances to go on it?"  
"Then why have so many Jedi declined on taking on you?" Master Chaa asked in return.  
"The past I left behind when I came here and my temperament. The latter is a fair excuse for the inexperienced Knights, but not for Masters," Arya answered. "But my past? So what if I lived with my family for the first years of my life? It's not like I am the only Jedi who came to training at such an age, am I? My ties to my tribe have been severed, and they don't trouble my commitment nor my focus."  
"There is still such a possibility," Master Chaa noted.  
"A possibility. An 'if'. I have been taught that 'if' only distracts from the moment and the task on hand. Have I understood something wrong or is there some sort of a disagreement on that among Jedi?" Arya noted. "Don't all Jedi have a possibility to become difficult, to rebel, to leave the Order, to fall, to defy the Code? And yet none of these Jedi who are close to such situations are frowned upon for merely existing and being here."  
"Do you hold nothing true if you question everything?" Phayeth knew it was not a good thing to lose one's temper on a defiant adolescent, yet something in the girl's attitude was getting on his nerves.  
"Quoting the philosopher Agri Mereikonen, 'You can question even the existence of yourself, the galaxy and the Force, but it does not make them any less real than your thoughts.' I question things to learn and see what is true and what is not," Arya noted. "Also, hearing the opinions and worldviews of others is nice. And who knows what one can learn from a simple conversation?"

Phayeth had to admit that the girl had studied quite an amount of philosophy for her age. But did she understand it? The Jedi councilor could not tell.  
"Now please excuse me, Master Chaa, I must go to my next lesson." Arya bowed and left.

Phayeth knew how worried the Council had become after agreeing on taking Arya to the Order as a Jedi Initiate. Nevertheless, he knew he had to trust Jedova's judgement; his friend had become so wary during the decades of living that he did not commit such grave mistakes – at least not due to an impulse.

But, as a councilor, Phayeth had seen more of Arya than Jedova had. He knew better than his friend about the different kinds of dangers that lurked around the girl. He could not help being worried for the new team.

Arya Deinden did not know it, but Phayeth knew that juding from the cases of Veledosians whose training had gone wrong, there were more dangers than falling to the Dark side in her training. He had a feeling that Jedova would not listen to those warnings or that he would dismiss them, but he had to try.

He had to warn him for everyone's sake. He knew that even if Jedova ignored those warnings, he'd still pay attention to his words and watch out. It was part of their friendship. They knew to listen to each other.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	18. Chapter 18

At some point, Jedova could feel something nudge at the small thread of the bond between him and Arya. The touch was hesitant and shy, as if apologizing for bothering. It was Arya. There was worry but also curiosity in the careful venturing, as if the girl was testing the limits from the distance, yet alongside the worry was some sort of an innocent childlike wonderment which made Jedova smile. The innocence was not his; such a thing had not been for most of the decades of his life. He was not exactly sure when he had lost it, but he could tell it had been before Master Xurego had gone mad. Jedova had always suspected that his innocence had been slowly drained away by the galaxy around himself during his youth and the final strand of it had dissipated into the Dark Side during his trouble with mental health – then at the latest, if not before that.

Jedova sent an amused reply to her, his action much more confident and knowing. It felt like it had startled Arya, but then there was a quick, hesitant answer. Jedova deciphered it as a question about how he was doing.

That woke him to wonder, How well was this actually going?

It could be much worse.

The Jedi Master told the Padawan that. He would tell her more details later when the time would be right.

With hesitation, Arya receded. She was going on a lesson now, it seemed. Jedova, on the other hand, knew that he had to head for the temple now; it was almost noon now.

By the temple, some boys were fighting. It reminded of the rough plays of the boys which Arya had participated in before she had left. Jedova could not help wondering if Arya would be there now, fighting alongside the boys, had she not left to become a Jedi. No one around them seemed to be worried; this was normal and the boys knew to not go too far.  
"Hi there, Master Wang!" Tureq's voice greeted Jedova. The man turned to look at the younger one of Arya's brothers. Arak was coming right behind him.  
"Hello Tureq, Arak," Jedova greeted.  
"Things are pretty much fully figured out. But since you're an outsider and there are other things going on here too, an agreement is needed for our deal," Arak told.  
"Alright. You have decided my payment, then?" Jedova asked.  
"Yes, we have," Tureq told.  
"So what am I supposed to do?" Jedova asked.  
"You'll help with a lot of people here; farmers, our master blacksmith Ta'koa, the Seer, our hunters and also Purono at the breko stable. And you will take some of our patrolling shifts when you don't work on something else. And of course you do your own part on the gift. Are you ok with that?" Arak informed him.  
That doesn't sound too bad at all, Jedova thought. "I am. But for how long will I be here?"  
"It depends on how much time is needed and used on everything. Don't worry, we'll keep track on it. You should be here for a month at the most," Tureq told.

Jedova's delighted mood dissipated. A month was a lot of time, considering that he was apart from his Padawan who needed him now. However, he had chosen to do this. He only had to work as much as he just could.  
"All right," Jedova said.  
"Now, if the agreement passes the proofreading of Seer Ni'Dea, we're good to sign it and begin," Arak noted.

He could barely finish the sentence, as the Tribe Seer came out of the temple with a clay-like slab in her hands.  
"Tureq, if you want to keep on planning to go to work outside our village, you need to brush up your written Basic a lot," Seer Ni'Dea told sharply. "Otherwise, you are not going anywhere from our area, I guarantee you that."

Jedova was taken aback by the harshness of those words, but Tureq only twisted his mouth in dissatisfaction and nodded.  
"Sure," the young man said. "Well is it understandable, anyways, or shall I make a new one?"  
"I'll let Master Wang determine that," the Seer replied and handed the slab over to Jedova. "If it is not good enough, then bother me about in the evening. I'm busy." With those words, she disappeared back to the temple, almost slamming the door behind her.  
"An epidemic or something?" Jedova asked carefully from the brothers.  
"No, I guess she is just worried," Tureq noted. "There's a lot of stuff going on inside this village right now."

Jedova held his tongue. Whatever "stuff" was going on, it was not his business even though he knew that his appearance there must be at least part of it. He turned to look at the slab and started to read. There were grammar errors, but he could understand it. At least with a little bit of imagination and understanding of the context.  
"I think that since this is between us, we can do with this despite the grammar errors," he told.  
"Good. Then we can go to sign it. Follow us!" Arak said and took the slab. Wondering how that would be done, given that the slab was already hard, Jedova followed the shorter men.

They walked into a building. It was dark and hot inside. There was a fireplace with a big fire burning.  
"Achentan Ta'koa!" Arak called out. As an answer a man shorter than Tureq but much more muscular than Jedova appeared.

Jedova recognized the man from the early morning, and suddenly he realized that they were in the blacksmith's workshop. For a moment, the blacksmith glared at the Jedi Master but then spoke up in hoarse Basic, "So, you came for work right away, huh? Come in, come in."

As Jedova followed the two brothers who walked closed to the furnace and the light which came from the fire, he could sense the roof very close to the top of his head. He realized that his usual clothing was way too much; he was already sweating in his tunics and robe.  
"You need to sign that thing, then? It passed our Seer's proofreading, did it?" Ta'koa said.  
"Not exactly, but we can carry on with it this time," Tureq told. "Since you are part of this thing, we need you to sign this too."  
"Sure, sure, Arak told me that," Ta'koa said and eyed both Arak and Jedova. "Now let's sign this thing then and get to work. The forge is hot and the alloy is ready." He looked at Jedova once again. "I suggest you get most of the clothes off, Master Jedi. You'll get baked here in those." Jedova was more than happy to nod, mutter something incoherent and get his robe and upper tunic off as Ta'koa scoffed to the two brothers, "You two younglings too."

Jedova could hear the young men grumble something; most likely they were not happy about being called "younglings". Meanwhile, Ta'koa had already taken something that looked vaguely like a stylus and started to carve something on the slab.  
"Go on, sign it so that we can get over with it," he then said, and the stylus floated to Jedova. The Jedi Master took it and walked to carve his own signature to the slab – it was easier than he had expected it to be. Arak and Tureq followed him and once that was made, Tureq put the slab aside.  
"Now let's get to work and we may have something to continue from tomorrow before nightfall," Arak said.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	19. Chapter 19

Sweat flowed in tiny rivers all around Jedova's face. One part of him, the part which had been numbed by the work in the heat, could not tell for how many hours they had worked, but his disciplined Jedi part told him that they had been working for four hours and 41 minutes, galactic standard time. Jedova watched the small parts that had been made. They had begun with a small orb, and with care they had started to make parts out of it. It was a very difficult and critical task, and it had been the most painstaking job the Jedi Master had done in decades. Yet as Jedova watched the parts, he felt that they had not done much.  
"It'll take days to complete this. It's very intricate," Tureq had explained to him.

Once Ta'koa deemed that they had done enough for the day, the three men left the workshop into the slowly cooling air. Arak and Jedova were merely exhausted, but Tureq, who inclined to more careful, detail-oriented and lighter works, could not help but complain about his aching muscles.  
"I really don't know if I will be able to do the night shift," he muttered. After working for a long time, he did not want to immediately ask the Jedi Master to go on his patrol shift at night.

Jedova, however, felt the urge to offer to do the aforementioned shift. After all, it would just lessen the number of things he would have to do.  
"When is the night shift?" he asked tentatively.  
"At midnight," Tureq told.  
"I can do it," Jedova noted.  
"But you've worked a lot already. You must be exhausted too," Tureq noted. "Plus, don't you need to sleep well too?"  
"I can get enough rest before that. And sleeping? It's no problem for me to go a day or two with little to no sleep," Jedova replied. "No need to worry. I'll tell you if I am too exhausted."

Jedova had a feeling that he may or may not keep his word on that. When it came to telling his fellows that he was too exhausted to go on, he failed more often than not. He had always felt that he needed to stay strong for them and not falter.  
"Well, try to sleep before that. I'll wake you up when you need to get ready for the patrol," Arak told. "I'll do that since I believe Tureq will oversleep anyways."

Tureq had a wry smile on his lips when he nodded and muttered something in Veledosian. He knew that his elder brother was right.

Near midnight

Arak knocked at the door and opened it. He was surprised to see Master Wang awake.  
"Have you slept at all?" he asked carefully. The Jedi turned to look at him with a neutral expression.  
"Yes, I have. Is it time now?" he said. He had slept a deep sleep for two hours, then woken up just ten minutes ago to meditate a bit in order to fully wake up. It was something Master Xurego had taught him for times when he had to operate with very little sleep. It had been useful during the worst of crises when he had had to be up for most of the time and he had had just a few hours of sleep or rest at the most.

Anyhow, he was bugged by missing the right moment to contact Arya via comlink. The girl had gone to sleep before he had gotten time to talk in silence. He did not know what was going on Coruscant, and since he would most likely be away for a relatively long time, he wanted to be in touch with his apprentice as much as possible under the current circumstances.

As he stood up from the meditation pose, he knew that bothering his mind with it would not change anything.  
"Follow me," Arak told. Without looking behind himself, he left. He knew that the Jedi Master followed.

"What am I supposed to do on the patrol?" Jedova asked quietly; most of the tribespeople were asleep.  
"You follow the lead, check if there are any marks of intruders, and if there are, you guys drive those intruders away at sight. Don't worry, they know enough Basic to tell you what to do," Arak told. Jedova nodded, not daring to talk any more than he needed to.

The stables were the only place that was not silent. The brekos snorted every so often; Jedova believed that it was the sound they usually made.

The Lianorosians in the stable turned to look at the newcomers as they came. Arak told them something in Veledosian. Jedova could hear his name mentioned, Tureq's name as well. One of the men nodded to him. He was much smaller than Arak, but there was confidence in his green eyes. There was not much light despite of the torches on the walls and in the tribespeople's hands, but he could make out the man's cropped hair even though he could not tell its color for sure. He would have said red or golden, but he could not be sure in the yellowish light of the fire.  
"Miicah, you take care of our fellow," the man said to another tribesman. Miicah, a tallish, thin man with longish hair nodded and gestured Jedova to come closer.

Arak patted Jedova to the back.  
"May the Force be with you, Master Wang," he said. Then he left to get the needed sleep.

Jedova walked to Miicah, trying to ignore the distrusting glances others made. He noticed that even Miicah's smile was tight, but he chose to ignore it. Hopefully, they would get used to him. Jedova could not help noticing that from the twelve tribespeople who were in the stable, only two were female.

Miicah quickly instructed the Jedi Master on how to mount a breko. With more ease and success than anyone, Jedova included, had expected, he managed to do it and follow the group as they rode out of the stable and the village. His breko – her name was Harhhoo, so the tribespeople told – only listened to Miicah, though, despite of not protesting Jedova's presence. Jedova was in the right side of the group, next to Miicah.

The illumination of the two moons lighted the valley. Jedova watched the beautiful, calm and quiet scenery with relaxation. He could not help but wish he could show this marvelous scenery to Arya. He was quite sure that their bond and his skills were not enough to do that right now, but he knew that he had nothing to lose if he tried.

Partly sinking to a meditation with the Force gathering around him, he focused on broadcasting the scenery through the small bond. He knew that his young Padawan was asleep and might not notice or remember anything later.

Jedova turned his attention to the other Force-sensitives around him. The Lianorosians were different from the Force-sensitives he usually encountered, even outside of the Jedi Order. They seemed to be neither Light nor Dark. Had Jedova met enough of such people to recognize this, he could have called them Gray. However, he had not met or heard about such people enough, so he had no word to call the tribespeople around himself.

There seemed to be nothing out of ordinary around the village perimeter. The tribespeople talked little with quiet and calm tones. Jedova could not understand what they were saying aside from the tone. He accepted that, knowing that he may never learn to understand the swift chatter that made the Living Force waver in sync with the words.

They went further away. The scenery was silent. Gazing up to the stars, Jedova could not help marveling the beauty of the galaxy.

His friends and Master Aslas had taught him to see that beauty and its many forms. That day, that single day, when he had truly realized it, had been decades ago, but he still remembered it. It was crystal clear and the most valuable treasure in his life.

It had been that day, when he had finally, after months of fighting against everything, overcome his depression.

Jedova knew that it and the incidents behind his depression had left scars and eternal marks to him, and there was always the risk of the depression resurfacing, should he not take proper care of himself. Nevertheless, after seeing the beauty for what felt like the first time in his life, Jedova was resolved to fight against everything inside his mind that would prevent him from enjoying his life to its fullest.

The mind healers supported him with this objective, and therefore he had annual checkouts in order to make sure that his psyche was healthy and stable. As more time passed since the last time he had had needed professional help, he grew more and more disliking of anyone going through his mind. He knew that it was worth the discomfort, though; a few times the annual checkout had let them notice the problems resurfacing before it was too late to stop those problems from swaying the Jedi Master's stability.

With an odd form of amusement, he realized that if he stayed for a week in the Lianorosians' village, he would miss the checkout this time.

Jedova needed to remember to contact the Halls of Healing in the morning. He needed to change the time of that appointment.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	20. Chapter 20

When Arya woke up, the room felt too warm. She did not understand where the feeling of nice coolness and calmness had come from, but there seemed to be something wrong with the temperature of the room. She knew that it did not matter much to her, so she just moved on and changed her clothes before the morning meditation.

There seemed to be some hassle inside the Temple. Arya felt it more clearly during her meditation. As she shook the odd, dreamy coolness away – the Master-like calmness disappeared along with it, too, even though she tried to keep it with her – she noticed that the air was in fact far hotter that it was supposed to be. Arya moved to the thermostat to change the temperature, but after five minutes of changing the settings she realized that it was out of commission. As she left the quarters for breakfast, even hotter air hit her face as she entered the corridors outside her quarters.

At the dining hall, the usual noise sounded more like a chaos than a hundred different conversations. Swearwords of different languages rumbled all around the hall, coloring up conversations everywhere. Arya tried to call the coolness back, but at this point she did not succeed anymore. It had faded away, its traces lingering scattered in the bond between her and her Master. Arya could only wonder why it was there.

It was easy to find Gomorrah, but this time the Veledosian girl did not find the Wookiee due to his tallness – it was the loud roaring in Shyriiwok that helped her find her friend. She could not recognize about a fourth of the words, but she sensed immense irritation coming from her friend.  
"Hey! What's going on around here?" she asked once she reached the table.  
"Air conditioning is broken." Qui-Gon grinned after that. "Everyone's hitting the roofs for that."  
"I can hear that," Arya said when she heard someone behind her yell about the hot air, the sentences spiced up with Huttese profanities.  
[It's so krraaar raarrrr hot!] Gomorrah roared and smacked his fist to the table – again, as the dent on the table implied.  
"Gomorrah, calm down," Arya said. "Are you using profanities or what since I can't understand a part of what you're saying?"  
[Who cannot yell some raarrrrr profanities when they're being literally krroookked in their fur?!] Gomorrah asked, his voice rising over the chatter.  
"Gomorrah, I understand that this is hard for you. But so it is for others, too," Tahl said. She sighed and swept her forehead. "This heat is not good at all. And it's starting to be dry, too, so those like Mon Calamari will have trouble here."  
"The problem is real," Qui-Gon noted, now more somber. "I saw Master Okiar on my way here. She didn't look good at all."  
"Well, is anyone doing something about it?!" Arya asked in dismay. Master Okiar was one of the Force technique teachers at the Temple and Arya's favorite teacher, for she concentrated of _Altus sopor_ section of _Control_ abilities and was one of the kindest yet funniest persons she knew inside the Temple.  
"Some repair droids are on it now, I guess," Qui-Gon said. "At least my Master believes so."  
"Repair droids are useless!" someone older than them scoffed at the adjacent table. "We'll be cooked!"

Arya sighed. The coolness had already evaporated from the folds of the Force. She found herself grasping for whatever traces of calmness there had been, but the masterly and soothing essence of someone else was now out of her reach.

She had to admit that the heat started to feel annoying; this was out of what she was used to and her clothing was not meant to this kind of a heat. She could not remember the difference between the climates of Coruscant and Kiros, so she had nothing to compare the current situation with. Her memories of childhood had faded away gradually as all the information and hard work had flooded in and buried everything else.

The lessons went by. The temperature rose and the amount of clothes was slowly reduced until they had gone to the absolute edge of being appropriate clothed. It was not like anyone could just go around in underwear, if even that.

Gomorrah was usually calm, but as the torture continued the Wookiee seemed to go closer and closer to throwing a fit. Despite of that, he let go of his fury well so that he could keep on going despite of the horrid heat.

He did well, he trily did, until he met his ultimate limit late in the afternoon; he suddenly got up when he was meditating with Arya and Tahl and stormed off without saying a word, although a while later the two girls could hear the Wookiee roar something. He could not take it anymore.  
"Poor Gomorrah. This temperature must be pure torture to him," Arya said. Tahl sighed and muttered something about "feeling tortured". She returned to meditation and Arya did the same, but not without sweeping her forehead.

This heat was insufferable. Yet the droids took a lot of time to repair things. _Those good-for-nothing junk piles_, Arya mused. Droids were not her favorite things in the galaxy; while she acknowledged that she had not seen much of the world outside the Jedi Temple and thus lacked a vast amount of knowledge, the droids she had met at the Temple usually did not do a good job. That was annoying. _The droids here must originate to the last millennium, at least. Or their last upgrade does._

Tahl left at some point, but Arya stayed for some time. Her meditation was later disturbed by the beep of her comlink. She answered it immediately.  
"Hello Padawan. I hope I am not disturbing you," her Master's voice said.  
"Not really, Master," Arya said. She suddenly realized that small beads of sweat were crawling down her face and neck. "I was meditating. How's your mission?"  
"It's fine. "Jedovar's voice was colorless. "Is everything alright there?"  
"The air conditioning is broken," Arya lamented. "We're being cooked here."  
"Really?" Jedova could barely stifle a chuckle.  
"Yeah. It's been like this all day. I guess the repair droids are broken too. At least by now they should be, since not all Jedi really can take this with grace or something like that."  
"Can you?" The Master's voice was innocent, but that did not stop the Padawan from getting on defensive for a fleeting moment.  
"At least I am not throwing any sort of fits here. Yet."  
"That's good," Jedova approved. Arya could not help feeling good because of the warm tone. It felt good to be approved by just _someone_, let alone her own Master. This prompted her to dare to ask, "Do you have any idea about when you'll come back, Master?"  
"I'll come back in a month. That's how long it'll take at the most, I believe."  
"A _month_?! Wow, things must be really messed up there." Arya could not keep astonishment away from her voice.  
"I wouldn't say 'messed up'." Jedova considered his words. "Just quite complicated. More complicated than I thought."  
Arya nodded. Then she remembered that her Master could not see it. "Ok."  
"I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise you, Padawan." Jedova wanted to hold onto that promise, and he hoped that he also would be able to do that.  
"Alright. I'll see you then, Master."  
"I need to go now. May the Force be with you, young one." Jedova's voice was suddenly rushed. Arya could not answer her Master when the transmission already ended.

Arya put the comlink back to its place on her utility belt and stared into the vast depths of the garden. She had lost the track of time while meditating and it was getting dark already; the dimmed lighting indicated that. She would be away from her Master for a month and all that time she would possibly have to fight against the disbelief that someone had actually chosen her. As long as her Master was not around, she would have to deal with it. In the end, that would not be a problem; it was two months until her birthday, so no one even _could_ kick her out – and even if they tried to, Arya knew she could just contact her Master if the Council would not help in the situation.

Arya's stomach growled. She was late for her usual dinner time, and her body knew that.

_Time to go then_, she mused as she stood up and walked away, the dining hall as her destination.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	21. Chapter 21

_About a week later, Kiros, Mid Rim_

Before coming on this foolhardy venture on Kiros, Jedova had never seen a hoe – the tool, not what the word means in slang! Those Jedova did recall encountering several times. Nevertheless, as a tool, a hoe was something new to Jedova, and the man could not help wondering why the Lianorosians still relied on such old things when far more advanced means had existed even when the Veledosians had gone on their exile. _I wonder what made them stop using them_.

It had been a week since he had started to work for Arya's birthday gift. He had to admit that this had been one of his biggest miscalculations ever since the mission on Utapau back when Lucian had not been knighted yet.

Thinking about that mission still made his blood run cold.

He tried to shake the memories of the carnage – which had been the outcome of his fatal miscalculation – away and concentrate on his work instead. Yesterday, they had gotten to that point in which Tureq took over and Jedova was left to do other work.

Right now, that "other work" meant helping the main farmer, Phal, with his lent agricultural tools the design of which possibly dated back to the time when Coruscant had been something more – or less, depending on your point of view – than a planet-wide city.

Jedova guessed that this still beat the stables. The Brekos were not very happy about his presence, or so it seemed to him. Purono seemed to think otherwise, but the Jedi Master stayed cautious – he did not want to get bitten. Their teeth were sharp as far as he had seen, so he was not willing to have his hands pierced by them.

The hard work in itself was nothing to the Jedi Master; the decades of Jedi training had ensured that he could take it without a problem. When the work became mechanical and repetitive, he slipped into light meditation, taking advantage of those moments to recenter himself. No, it was amount of work and the time it took that worried him. He had underestimated it.

The mistake was his, though, and already made. He had to do his best to cover the extra time he had not anticipated and hope that his stay would not be extended too much. That meant using every moment he could for repaying his debt; all the time he spent working brought his reunion with Arya closer.

Despite of the language barrier and obvious distrust, Jedova had started to like the village. It was peaceful, quiet and safe. However, the Jedi Master was not sure if the tribespeople knew how aware he was of the looks he got and the whispered words and their odd, distrusting waves in the Force.

Jedova did his best to avoid selfish thoughts – he was a Jedi, after all – but this time he allowed himself one of those. At that time, it did not matter for him as long as he would get back to Arya as soon as possible. Deep inside he knew that it did matter a lot now and it would also matter in the future. As Arya's Master and the person in between her and the tribe, his standing with the tribespeople bore a lot of weight.

Despite of that, it was probably the lesser evil to sacrifice his relations instead of the time with his apprentice at the Jedi Temple. With luck, his work ethic would be more effective than any attempts at talking with most of the Lianorosians. His worry about Arya weighed more than any concerns about his standing with the tribe. He had contacted the girl a few times during the week and things seemed to be going well, but he was still worried. He knew that he had been too eager to go; he should have stayed and made sure that things had gotten normal and stable.

Nevertheless, it was too late now. "Should haves" did not help his Padawan. All Jedova could do was be as fast and efficient as possible, but his limits with time were a hard fact. Even if he _could_ work all days nonstop – which probably would not work in the long run; he might burn himself out and use even more time because of recovering – the Lianorosians cared enough to make sure he ate, slept and rested.

_At least they think I am diligent by now._ H_opefully they don't know how much I want to leave already..._

Jedova knew that he probably worried too much, but at the same time he could not help it. It was a part of who he was and even though it was hard, he knew it was worth it in the end. He would miss important but hard-to-notice things less when he worried a lot; his time training Degu, Lucian and Sören had proved that to him.

In meditation, everything looked clearer. After meditating far less than he should have, the Force's light current refreshed Jedova's mind. It was only then that he saw how badly his ridiculous working pace and neglect of self-care had already affected him; it woke him to actually realize that he should reconsider how much work he was going to do in a day and find time for taking care of himself too. He could not work if he burned himself out, and then he would have to be there for longer. He could not explain that to his apprentice without lying.

The hours passed by in another blur. Suddenly, Jedova realized that it was dark and that he should go to sleep. Despite of deciding to have some time for himself, Jedova found that he had just gone another day in the same flow of working as the last five days. The wake-up call had not had a lasting effect, at least not without an effort he would have to put in.

After seeking advice from the Force, he only found himself telling that he should slow down, that he was not so young anymore. He was 54 already, a fossil in the eyes of the human younglings. His body had not protested much yet, but he knew that it would start doing that sooner or later – and more and more during Arya's apprenticeship, he believed. At least his hair would start to gray if nothing else would happen during the next decade.

Jedova Wang's youth had already run out, and he knew that his strength would only start to lessen during these years.

He had to use the time he had remaining well.

Two weeks later he found himself feeling exhausted quite often, the wake-up call he had gotten having turned out ineffective. He had worked like a madman yet had not rested as much as he should have, and he feared that Arya had started to notice his weariness in those few conversations they had managed to have via comlink. As far as he had understood, Jedova had already paid half of his debt, but he knew that he could not do the other half at the same pace. His body could not take nor allow such a stress.

Despite of it, all the time he told his apprentice, "I am well."

He knew it was a lie. And if it was not that right now, it was going to be sooner or later.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	22. Chapter 22

It had been three weeks since Master Wang had left. Arya managed on her own – she had learned to do that – but as she carried her Padawan braid alone, never seen with a Master, few actually believed even now that she had actually become someone's Padawan Learner. This doubt offended her, but as long as her Master was on his mission, she could do nothing about it. She had to keep on studying. The tests would be soon and she could not afford slowing down. She did not want to fail at anything.

Gomorrah had left on a mission earlier on the week, Qui-Gon was busy with his studies on his own, custom-made timetable, and Tahl was somewhere doing... something. Airka, on the other hand, was suffering a punishment for a witty comment gone too far and everyone else she could have spent time with on her limited free time were scattered all around the galaxy. Therefore, with nothing more constructive to do, she headed for the dojo. She needed to hone her katas and if she was lucky, she could get a spar with someone. She felt like she needed those spars to prove others that she was an actual Padawan even though she did not know why she felt like that or why anyone would have expected that from anyone.

She could only hope that a new Padawan like her would be her partner because she did not feel like getting beaten by someone much more skilled than her. The dojo was crowded as usual, but Arya found enough space to rehearse the katas. Her Master had not only given her personal instructions but also told her about helpful information sources. While Arya knew she would not just suddenly master the katas, she knew she was improving, and that was enough for her. She had to keep practicing.

_One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight..._

_One, two, three, four, five..._

_Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen..._

When she was at longer katas, like katas from 10 onwards, the count tangled up and morphed into something strange. The voice was at times Master Gla's, sometimes Master Jedova's, occasionally it was someone else's voice, and the count kept on even though at some point Arya could not hear it. She kept her pace without conscious counting.

She had accidentally ended up tuck between Empty Meditation and Moving Meditation, sometimes able to hear the voices but unable to fully acknowledge them nevertheless. It was like having legs stuck in a swamp, even though those legs moved. She needed to improve her abilities at meditating, too.

When Arya finished kata 15, she came out of her meditation with a dazed shake of her head, deactivating her lightsaber. She noticed that twelve younglings had joined her, having followed her motions. They even shook their heads after ending the kata. The Padawan stared at them, bewildered, and they stared back at her.  
"You were at a good pace with the katas, so I decided to let them do them with you. They insisted," a soft female voice said. "But when it comes to kata 13, you could sharpen the swipe of the eleventh motion." With a startle Arya turned around to look at the talker; it was Chria Lfdaan, one of the lightsaber instructors. The purple-skinned Keshiri was a junior instructor, having received her position a few months ago.  
"Master Lfdaan," Arya bowed as a greeting. The presence of the younglings was now understandable, but she was still confused.  
"You're so skilled! I want to be as good as you someday!" a youngling said to Arya.  
"Oh no you don't! I haven't even mastered these _katas_, and I am not that good at fighting with a lightsaber. No, if you want to be a good at wielding a lightsaber, you need to look at the skill level of Knights, at least," the Padawan told with a smile coming to her face.  
"Who do you look up to when it comes to wielding a lightsaber, Padawan Deinden?" Master Lfdaan asked.  
"Master Gla and Master Yoda, at least. Many Masters in general, I'd say," Arya answered. "I think I look up to Masters in everything."  
"If you want to be that good, it's a tough goal to reach," the instructor noted with a nod.  
"I am going to reach it someday. I will work for it as long as I need to," Arya told. Her old enthusiasm had turned into a chunk of obstinate willpower and ambition during the last weeks. She did not want to be stopped by anyone – especially not herself.

She knew that her sheer, even occasionally faltering determination did not make her master katas on its own. She had to practice. Therefore, she repeated the cycle of the katas, from one to 15, again and again. After every single cycle, Master Lfdaan gave her, just like the younglings, notes about what they should do to improve the kata. Yet this did not make her feel like a youngling, no; Master Lfdaan addressed her as "Padawan Deinden" and she received far fewer notes than any of the younglings, who, in turn, looked up to her more and more.

Suddenly Arya felt like a true Padawan. The braid that grew from behind her right ear was real, not a joke or fake. Even though her Master was away, she was Jedova Wang's Padawan Learner, no matter what. It had taken this to reach this enlightenment, and Arya could not have been more grateful for the lightsaber instructor for letting the younglings follow her with the katas. With every repeat, the kata became more fluid, more graceful, and the Force flowed all around them, as the lightsabers crackled in the nearby spars.

This was it.

This was being a Padawan.

The burden of insecurity, the surrounding disbelief, of her position, it was lifting along the way with every motion that brought the katas onwards.

Arya could not possibly feel prouder of herself. With her green eyes lighted as she left the dojo without having a spar about one and a half standard hours after the younglings had joined her – their lesson had ended in an hour – she could not wait until her Master would see how much she had already improved.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


	23. Chapter 23

_Nine days later_

Jedova had cut some time – the absolute minimum, of course – from his working in order to meditate and rest more. As a result, when a wave of flu came to the village, the Force did not let Jedova avoid it. He ended up into the bottom the bed with a high fever. Luckily, Tureq, unlike Arak, did not get infected, so he could continue working.

When he fell ill, Jedova gathered all his remaining strength to inform his Padawan that he would be delayed by his illness, hoping that the girl would not get too worried about him. He was stronger than the flu even though he had driven himself to the very edge of a burnout; he would make it through this.

In feverish days, Jedova mused that it must have been the will of the Force that he got ill. It did not want him to kill himself by overworking – he had to be there for his Padawan, after all – and thus had made this happen to ensure that he got some rest. However, the man could barely eat and drink, so he was slowly running out of whatever strength he had had left. Using the Force to healing had always been extremely difficult for Jedova to the point of being a disability, but now even the little he could do was impossible. With the village healers preoccupied with more serious cases, the Jedi Master lay on the bed in fever for a week.

After healing from the fly, Jedova found himself working less, working more carefully, working with less intensity. His body could do nothing more than a fraction of what he had forced it to do after his strength had been depleted by his illness. He was fully dependent on the Force to keep on going; the healers at the Jedi Temple could take care of him if he was in a bad condition when he returned. No matter what the tribespeople or Arya said, he was going to do this now.

One evening, the Jedi Master overheard Arak and Tureq talking about him; the two Lianorosians were worried about him and apparently feared that he would work until it killed him. They agreed on cutting his amount of work. This stung Jedova's pride yet he appreciated that they cared that much about him. He guessed that it could be just because he was the only one willing to train their younger sister, but he appreciated the thought nevertheless.

Deciding to act like he had never heard anything about it, Jedova went to rest. His body did more decisions about his actions than he did now. He forced himself to understand it and that his body knew what it could do the best even though it was frustrating.

When Arak and Tureq took him to their room for a talk one morning, Jedova realized that six weeks had passed since he had arrived to the village. Because of that, he was glad and relieved when Arak told him, "Everything is finished now. Your debt, the gift, everything."  
"I've already finished it all?" Jedova asked, mildly surprised. Even though he knew about the cut, he was still surprised about how soon he was ready despite of the flu slowing him down.  
"Yes." Tureq handed him a small, pocket-sized and beautifully engraved orb. It was nearly the same, only a bit darker, silver as Arya's lightsaber blade. "She will figure out what this is, you can trust it."  
"Thank you," Jedova said as he took the orb to his hand. The orb seemed even smaller in his big palm. It was like an ironic remark on how small Arya was when compared to him.  
"Are you going to leave soon?" Arak asked.  
"I am. I have been away for long already, and I promised Arya that I would return as soon as I could," Jedova told. "So, if everything is finished, I can go, right?"  
"Once you have said goodbye to aunt Ni'Dea, then yes," Arak told.  
"Very well," Jedova said.

When the three men came to the temple, the Seer seemed to already know that the Jedi Master was leaving.  
"You came to say goodbye, didn't you, Master Wang," she said as they walked in to her chamber. It seemed to be more of a statement than a question.  
"Yes, I did, Seer Ni'Dea. My work is done now, and I must be back at the Jedi Temple. Arya is waiting for me," Jedova told.  
"Yes, she is waiting for you indeed," the Seer said distantly. "You should return to her now. She needs you, Master Jedi."  
"I'll leave right away," Jedova said and pondered his words for a short moment. "Is there something you'd like me to tell her when I will tell her about this? Any message or something like that?"  
"No. I want to talk to her face to face when the time for that comes," the Seer said. Jedova turned to look at the brothers if they wanted him to deliver a message from them to Arya, but they shook their heads. The Jedi Master nodded and said, "May the Force be with you."

When he left, the Deinden brothers did not follow him.  
"We should stay away from the Jedi as long and as much as possible. For Arya's sake, and for our sakes," Ni'Dea said as the brothers kneeled to her sides after Jedova Wang had left the chamber.  
"But why?" Tureq asked. "  
"It is for the best," the Seer said. She refused to say anything after that even though her nephews tried to get some sort of a response from her.

For long, she had known that dark times were coming, and she wanted to protect her tribe from it. Yet she knew that as Arya had left to the outside world and Tureq was planning to do the same, no Seer could protect them from whatever was coming. Ni'Dea already knew that no matter what she would try to do, she could not prevent the tribe from being affected by the dark times when they would come them, but she wanted to do whatever she could to reduce the damage to the absolute minimum. Despite of the promise in the Force, its assurance that the tribe would not perish, she was afraid.

Lianoros the Searpent had warned her about this back when Ni'Dea Liarn'ak'o, known by her name of birth given away after she had become the Tribe Seer, Nishada Deinden, had been the disciple of Seer Xa-Dor. Still, even after preparing for two centuries, she found herself powerless at the face of the incidents and the slowly approaching future.

This was the will of the Force, and she could do nothing to fight against it.

The only comfort she found was that the Jedi Master, who had been the catalyst for their part in this story, could do nothing to run away from the will of the Force either.

**/Star Wars (c) Lucasfilm, any characters you cannot find on Wookieepedia, Veledos, Veledosians and their language (c) Me/**


End file.
